To the Gold Coast for Gold by Richard F. Burton

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A Personal Narrative in Two Volumes (Volume 1, To the Gold Coast for Gold)

2: To the Gold Coast for Gold A Personal Narrative Volume II

1: To the Gold Coast for Gold A Personal Narrative Volume I

To the Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative in Two Volumes; Volume 1

To the Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. 1 of 2: A Personal Narrative (Classic Reprint)

To the Gold Coast for Gold - Scholar's Choice Edition

To the Gold Coast for Gold (A Personal Narrative), Volume 1

To the Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative in Two Volumes.—Volume I

penny and to go round the ships.

We anchored and screamed abominably off Santa Cruz, the capital of its'comarca.' The townlet lies on the left of a large ravine, whose upperbed contains the Madre d'Agoa, or water-reservoir. The settlement,fronted by its line of trees, the Alameda, and by its broad beachstrewed with boats, consists of white, red, and yellow houses, one-,two-, and three-storied; of a white-steepled church and of a newmarket-place. East of it, and facing south, lies the large house of 'theSquire' (Mr. H. B. Blandy), a villa whose feet are washed by the waves;the garden shows the lovely union, here common, of pine and palm. Thelatter, however, promises much and performs little, refusing, like theolive, to bear ripe fruit. Beyond the Squire's is the hotel, approachedby a shady avenue: it is the most comfortable in the island after thefour of Funchal.

[Footnote: There are only two other country inns, both on the northerncoast. The first is at Santa Anna, some 20 miles north-north-east of thecapital; the second at Sao Vicente, to the north-west. All three arekept by natives of Madeira. Unless you write to warn the owners that youare coming, the first will be a 'banyan-day,' the second comfortableenough. This must be expected; it is the Istrian 'Citta Nuova, chi portatrova.']

Santa Cruz has a regular spring-season; and the few residents of thecapital frequent it to enjoy the sea-breeze, which to-day (April 23)blows a trifle too fresh.

We then pass the Ponta da Queimada, whose layers of basalt are deeplycaverned, and we open the Bay of Machico. The site, a broad, green andriant valley, with a high background, is softer and gayer than that ofFunchal. It has been well sketched in 'Views in the Madeiras,' and bythe Norwegian artist Johan F. Eckersberg in folio, with letterpress byMr. Johnson of the guide-book. The 'Falcon' anchors close to thelanding-stairs, under a grim, grey old fort, O Desembarcadouro,originally a tower, and now apparently a dwelling-place. The_debarcadere_ has the usual lamp and the three iron chains intendedto prevent accidents.

The prosperous little fishing-village, formerly the capital of_the_ Tristam, lies as usual upon a wady, the S. Gonsales, andconsists of a beach, an Alameda, a church with a square tower, and somegood houses. Twenty years ago the people had almost forgotten a storywhich named the settlement; and the impromptu cicerone carried strangerswho sought the scene of Machim's death to the Quinta de Santa Anna,

[Footnote: Here Mr. White made some of his meteorologicalobservations. VOL. I.]

well situated upon a land-tongue up the valley; to the parish church,which was in a state of chronic repair, and in fact to every place butthe right. The latter is now supposed to be the little _Ermida_(chapel) _de N. S. da Visitacao._ with its long steps andwall-belfry on the beach and the left jaw of the wady: it is a merehumbug, for the original building was washed away by the flood of1803. In those days, too, visitors vainly asked for the 'remains ofMachim's cross, collected and deposited here by Robert Page, 1825.' Nowa piece of it is shown in frame. About 1863 I was told that a member ofthe family, whose name, it is said, still survives about Bristol, wishedto mark the site by a monument--decidedly encouraging toGretna-Greenism.

From Machico Bay we see the Fora and other eastern outliers which formthe Madeiran hatchet-handle. Some enthusiasts prolong the trip to whatis called the 'Fossil-bed,' whose mere agglomerations of calcareousmatter are not fossils at all. The sail, however, gives fine views ofthe 'Deserters' (_Desertas_), beginning with the 'Ship Rock,' astack or needle mistaken in fogs for a craft under sail. Next to it liesthe Ilheu Chao, the Northern or Table Deserta, not unlike Alderney or aPerigord pie. Deserta Grande has midway precipices 2,000 feet high,bisected by a lateral valley, where the chief landing is. Finally, Cu deBugio (as Cordeyro terms it) is in plan a long thin strip, and inelevation a miniature of its big brother, with the additions of sundryjags and peaks.

The group is too windy for cereals, but it grows spontaneously orchiland barilla (_Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum_), burnt for soda. Fewstrangers visit it, and many old residents have never attempted theexcursion. It is not, however, unknown to sportsmen, who land--withleave--upon the main island and shoot the handsome 'Deserta petrels,'the _cagarras_ (_Puffinus major_, or sheerwater), the rabbits,the goats that have now run wild, and possibly a seal. A poisonousspider is here noticed by the guide-books, and the sea supplies theedible _pulvo (octopus)_ and the dreaded _urgamanta_. Thishuge ray (?) enwraps the swimmer in its mighty double flaps and dragshim to the bottom, paralysing him by the wet shroud and the dreadfulstare of its hideous eyes.

The Christmas of 1881 at Madeira could by no means be called gay. Theforeign colony was hospitable, as usual, with dinners, dances, andChristmas trees. But amongst the people festivities seemed to consistchiefly of promenading one's best clothes about the military band andfiring royal salutes, not to speak of pistols and squibs. The noisereminded me of Natal amongst the Cairene Greeks; here, as in the Brazil,if you give a boy a copper he expends it not on lollipops, but onfireworks. We wished one another _boas entradas_, the 'buon'principio' of Italy, and remembered the procession of seventeen yearsago. The life-sized figures, coarsely carved in wood and dressed in realclothes, were St. Francis, St. Antonio de Noto, a negro (MadeiranCatholics recognise no 'aristocracy of the skin'); a couple of marriedsaints (for even matrimony may be sanctified), SS. Bono and Luzia, withhalf a dozen others. The several platforms, carried by the brotherhoodsin purple copes, were preceded by the clergy with banners and crossesand were followed by soldiers. The latter then consisted of a battalionof _cacadores_, 480 to 500 men, raised in the island and commandedby a colonel entitled 'Military Governor.' They are small, dark figurescompared with the burly Portuguese artillerymen stationed at the LooFort and Sao Thiago Battery, and they are armed with old Englishsniders.

Behind the Tree of Penitence and the crosses of the orders came an EcceHomo and a bit of the 'true Cross' shaded by a canopy. The peasantry,who crowded into town--they do so no longer--knelt to kiss whatever waskissable, and dodged up and down the back streets to gainopportunities. Even the higher ranks were afoot; they used to acquire ininfancy a relish for these mild amusements. And one thing is to be notedin favour of the processions; the taste of town-decoration wasexcellent, and the combinations of floral colours were admirable.Perhaps there is too much of nosegay in Madeira, making usremember the line--

Posthume, non bene olet qui bane semper olet.

I went to the Jesuit church to hear the _predica_, or sermon. Thepreacher does not part his hair 'amidships,' or display cambric anddiamond-rings, yet his manner is none the less _manieree_. For himand his order, in Portugal as in Spain, the strictest minutiae ofdemeanour and deportment are laid down. The body should be borneupright, but not stuck up, and when the congregation is addressed thechest is slightly advanced. The dorsal region must never face theSacrament; this would be turning one's back, as it were, upon theDeity. The elbow may not rest upon the cushion. The head, held erect,but not haughtily, should move upon the atlas gently and suavely,avoiding 'lightness' and undue vivacity. The lips must not smile; but,when occasion calls for it, they may display a saintly joy. The eyebrowsmust not be raised too high towards the hair-roots; nor should one beelevated while the other is depressed. The voice should be at times_tremolando_, and the tone periodically 'sing-song.' Finally, theeyes are ordered to wander indiscriminately, and with all pudicity, overthe whole flock, and never to be fixed upon a pretty lamb.

Our countrymen are not over-popular in Portugal or in Madeira; suchmortal insults as those offered by Byron, to name only the corypheus,will rankle and can never be forgotten. In this island strangers,especially Englishmen, have a bad practice of not calling upon the twogovernors, civil and military. The former, Visconde de Villa Mendo, isexceptional; he likes England and the English. As a rule the highestclasses mix well with strangers; not so the _medio ceto_ who, undera constitutional _regime_, rule the roast. Men with small fixedincomes have little to thank us for; we make things dear, and we benefitonly the working men. Bourgeois exactions have driven both French shipsand American whalers to Tenerife; and many of them would do the samewith the English and German residents and visitors of Funchal. Not a fewhave noble and historic names, whose owners are fallen into extremepoverty. Professor Azevedo's book is also a _nobiliaire deMadere_. The last generation used to be remarkably prim and precise,in dress as in language and manner. They never spoke of 'hogs' or'horns,' and they wore the skimpy waistcoats and the regulation whiskersof Wellington's day. The fair sex appeared only at 'functions,' atchurch, and at the Sunday promenade in the Place. The moderns dressbetter than their parents, who affected the most violent colours, anexceedingly pink pink upon a remarkably green green; and the shape ofthe garment was an obsolete caricature of London and Paris. They nolonger assume the peculiar waddle, looking as if the lower limbs wereunequal to the weight of the upper story; but the walk never equals thatof the Spanish woman. This applies to Portugal as well. The strongpoints, here as in the Peninsula, are velvety black eyes and blue-blackhair dressed _a la Diane_. It is still the fashion, as at Lisbon,to look somewhat _boudeuse_ when abroad, by way of hint that manmust not expect too much; yet these cross faces at home or withintimates are those of _bonnes enfants_. Lastly, the darkcomplexions and the irregular features do not contrast well with thecharming faces and figures of Tenerife, who mingle the beauty ofGuanchedom with that of Spain and Ireland.

The list of public amusements at Funchal is not extensive. Years ago thetheatre was converted into a grain-store, and now it is awine-store. The circus of lumber has been transferred from under thePeak Fort to near the sea; it mostly lacks men and horses. The Germanshave a tolerable lending library; and the public _bibliotheca_ inthe Town House, near the Jesuit church, is rich in old volumes, mostlycollected from religious houses. In 1851 the books numbered 1,800; nowthey may be 2,000; kept neat and clean in two rooms of the fine solidold building. Of course the collection is somewhat mixed, Fox's'Martyrs' and the 'Lives of the Saints' standing peacefully near the'Encyclopedie' and Voltaire. A catalogue can hardly be expected.

There are three Masonic lodges and two Portuguese clubs, one good, theother not; and the former (Club Funchalense), well lodged in a housebelonging to Viscountess Torre Bella, gives some twice or three times ayear very enjoyable balls. The Cafe Central, with _estaminet_ andFrench billiard-table, is much frequented by the youth of the town, butnot by residents. The great institution is the club called the 'EnglishRooms,' which has been removed from over a shop in the Aljube toViscondessa de Torre Bella's house in the Rua da Alfandega. The BritishConsulate is under the same roof, and next door is Messieurs Blandy'subiquitous 'Steamer Agency.' The roomy and comfortable quarters, with afine covered balcony looking out upon the sea, are open to bothsexes. The collection of books is old; but the sum of 100_l_. laidout on works of reference would bring it fairly up to the level of theaverage English country-club. Strangers' names were hospitably put downby any proprietary member as guests and visitors if they did not outstaythe fortnight; otherwise they became subscribers. But crowding was theresult, and the term has been reduced to three days: a month'ssubscription, however, costs only 10_s_. 6_d_. The doors closeat 7.30 P.M.: I used to think this an old-world custom kept up by theveteran hands; but in an invalid place perhaps it is wisely done.

The principal _passetemps_ at Madeira consists of eating, drinking,and smoking; it is the life of a horse in a loose box, where the animaleats _pour passer le temps_. After early tea and toast there isbreakfast a la fourchette_ at nine; an equally heavy lunch, or ratheran early dinner (No. 1), appears at 1 to 2 P.M.; afternoon tea follows,and a second dinner at 6 to 7. Residents and invalids suppress tiffinand dine at 2 to 3 P.M. In fact, as on board ship, people eat becausethey have nothing else to do; and English life does not admit of thesensible French hours--_dejeuner a la fourchette_ at 11 A.M. anddinner after sunset.

The first walk through Funchal shows that it has not improved during thelast score of years, and to be stationary in these days is equivalent tobeing retrograde. It received two heavy blows--in 1852 the vine-disease;and, since that time, a gradual decline of reputation as asanatorium. Yet it may, I think, look for a better future when the LandBill Law system, extending to England and Scotland, will cover thecontinent with colonies of British _rentiers_ who rejoice in largefamilies and small incomes. Moreover, Anglo-African officials aregradually learning that it is best to leave their 'wives and wees' atMadeira; and the coming mines of the Gold Coast will greatly add to thenumbers. For the economist Funchal and its environs present peculiaradvantages. The dearness of coin appears in the cheapness of houses andpremises. Estates which cost 5,000_l_. to 15,000_l_. a generationago have been sold to 'Demerarists' for one-tenth thatsum. 'Palmeira,' for instance, was built for 42,000_l_., and wasbought for 4,000_l_. A family can live quietly, even keepingponies, for 500_l_. per annum; and it is something to find a placefour to seven days' sail from England inhabitable, to a certain extentall the year round. The mean annual temperature is 67.3 degrees; that ofsummer varies from 70 degrees to 85 degrees, and in winter it rarelyfalls below 50 degrees to 60 degrees. The range, which is the mostimportant consideration, averages 9 degrees, with extremes of 5 degreesto 35 degrees. The moist heat is admirably adapted for old age, and Idoubt not that it greatly prolongs life. Youth, English youth, cannotthrive in this subtropical air; there are certain advantages foreducation at Funchal; but children are sent north, as from Anglo-India,to be reared. Otherwise they will grow up yellow and languid, withoutenergy or industry, and with no object in life but to live.

Madeira has at once gained credit for comfort and has lost reputation asa sanatorium, a subject upon which fashion is peculiarly fickle. Duringthe last century the Faculty sent its incurables to Lisbon andMontpellier despite the _mistral_ and the fatal _vent debise_. The latter town then lodged some 300 English families ofinvalids, presently reduced to a few economists and wine-merchants.Succeeded Nice and Pisa, one of the most wearying and relaxingof 'sick bays;' and Pau in the Pyrenees, of which the nativeBearnais said that the year has eight months of winter and four ofinferno. Madeira then rose in the world, and a host of medical residentssounded her praises, till Mentone was written up and proved a powerfulrival. And the climate of the hot-damp category was found to suit,mainly if not only, that tubercular cachexy and those, bronchialaffections and lung-lesions in which the viscus would suffer from theover-excitement of an exceedingly dry air like the light invigoratingmedium of Tenerife or Thebes. Lastly, when phthisis was determined to bea disease of debility, of anaemia, of organic exhaustion, and ofdefective nutrition, cases fitted for Madeira were greatly limited. Hereinstruments deceive us as to humidity. The exceeding dampness is shownby the rusting of iron and the tarnishing of steel almost as effectuallyas upon the West African coast. Yet Mr. Vivian's observations, assuming100 to be saturation, made Torquay 76 and Funchal 73. [Footnote: Othersmake the mean humidity of Funchal 76, and remark that in the healthiestand most pleasant climates the figures range between 70 and80]. Moreover it was found out that consumption, as well as intermittentfevers, are common on the island, so common, indeed, as to require anespecial hospital for the poorer classes, although the people declarethem to have been imported by the stranger. I may here observe thatwhile amongst all the nations of Southern Europe great precautions aretaken against the contagion of true phthisis, English medicos seem toignore it. A Pisan housekeeper will even repaper the rooms after thedeath of a consumptive patient. At Funchal sufferers in every stage ofthe disease live in the same house and even in the same rooms.

Then came the discovery that for consumptives dry cold is a mediumsuperior to damp heat. Invalids were sent to the Tyrol, to the Engadine,to Canada, and even to Iceland, where phthisis is absolutely unknown,and where a diet of oleaginous fish is like feeding upon cod-liver orshark-liver oil. The air as well as the diet proved a tonic, andpatients escaped the frequent cough, catarrh, influenza, and neuralgiawhich are so troublesome at Funchal. Here, too, the invalid must beaccompanied by a 'prudent and watchful friend,' or friends, and thecompanions will surely suffer. I know few climates so bad and none worsefor those fecund causes of suffering in Europe, liver-affections('mucous fevers'), diarrhoeas, and dysenteries; for nervous complaints,tic douloureux, and neuralgia, or for rheumatism and lumbago. Asthma isone of the disorders which shows the most peculiar forms, and must betreated in the most various ways: here some sufferers are benefitted,others are not. Madeira is reputedly dangerous also for typhoidaffections, for paralysis, and for apoplexy. There is still anotherchange to come. The valley north of the beautiful and ever maligned'Dead Sea' of Palestine, where the old Knights Templar had theirsugar-mills and indigo-manufactories, has peculiar merits. Lying some1,350 feet below the Mediterranean, it enables a man to live with aquarter of a lung: you may run till your legs fail with fatigue, but youcan no more get out of breath than you can sink in the saline waters ofLake Asphaltites. When a railway from Jafa to Jerusalem shall civilisethe 'Holy Land,' I expect great things from the sites about the Jordanembouchure.

After the 'gadding vine' had disappeared the people returned to theirold amours, the sugar-cane, whose five loaves, disposed crosswise, gavethe island her heraldic cognisance. Madeira first cultivated sugar inthe western hemisphere and passed it on to the New World. Yet the canewas always worked under difficulties. Space is limited: the upperextreme of cultivation on the southern side may be estimated at 1,000feet. The crop exhausts the soil; the plant requires water, and itdemands what it can rarely obtain in quantity--manure. Again, machineryis expensive and adventure is small. Jamaica and her slave-labour soonreduced the mills from one hundred and fifty to three, and now five. Myhospitable friend, Mr. William Hinton, is the only islander who workssugar successfully at the _Torreao_. The large rival mill with thetall regulation smoke-stack near the left mouth of the Ribeira de Sao'Joao, though inscribed 'Omnia vincit improbus labor,' and thoughprovided with the most expensive modern appliances, is understood not tobe a success for the Companhia Fabril d'Assucar.

Here sugar-working in the present day requires for bare existence highprotective duties. The Government, however, has had the common sense,and the Madeirans patriotic feeling enough, to defend their industryfrom certain ruinous vagaries, by taxing imported growths 80 reis(4_d_.) per kilo. A hard-grit free-trader would abolish thisabomination and ruin half the island. And here I would remark that inEngland the world has seen for the first time a wealthy and commercial,a great and generous nation proclaim, and take pride in proclaiming, themost immoral doctrine. 'Free Trade,' so called, I presume, because it ispractically the reverse of free or fair trade, openly abjures publicspirit and the chief obligation of the citizen--to think of hisneighbour as well as himself, and not to let charity end, as it oftenbegins, at home. 'Buy cheap and sell dear' is the law delivered by itsprophets, the whole duty of 'the merchant and the man.' When itstheorists ask me the favourite question, 'Would you not buy in thecheapest market?' I reply, 'Yes, but my idea of cheapness is not yours:I want the best, no matter what its price, because it will provecheapest in the end.' How long these Free-trade fads and fooleries willlast no one can say; but they can hardly endure till that millenniumwhen the world accepts the doctrine, and when Free Trade becomes freetrade and fair trade.

As regards _petite industrie_ in Madeira, there is a considerabletraffic in 'products of native industry,' sold to steamer-passengers.The list gives jewellery and marquetry or inlaid woodwork;feather-flowers, straw hats, lace and embroidery, the latter animportant item; boots and shoes of unblackened leather; sweetmeats,especially guava-cheese; wax-fruits, soap-berry bracelets, and 'Job'stears;' costumes in wood and clay; basketry, and the well-known wickerchairs, tables, and sofas. The cooperage is admirable; I have nowhereseen better-made casks. The handsomest shops, as we might expect, arethe apothecaries'; and, here, as elsewhere, they thrive by charging asixpence for what cost them a halfpenny.

An enterprising Englishman lately imported sheep from home. The nativemutton was described in 1842 as 'strong in flavour and lean incondition;' in fact, very little superior to that of Trieste. Now it isremarkably good, and will be better. Silk, I have said, has not beenfairly tried, and the same is the case with ginger. Cotton sufferedterribly from the worm. Chinchona propagated from cuttings, not from theseed, did well. Dr. Grabham [Footnote: _The Climate and Resources ofMadeira_. By Michael C. Grabham, M.D., F.R.G.S., F.R.C.P. London;Churchill, 1870.] tells us that the coffee-berry ripens and yields abeverage locally thought superior to that of the imported kinds. It hasbecome almost extinct in consequence of protracted blights: the islandair is far too damp. Tea did not succeed. [Footnote: Page 189, _DuClimat de Madere, etc_., par C. A. Mourao Pitta, Montpellier, 1859.]Cochineal also proved a failure. The true Mexican cactus (_OpuntiaTuna_) was brought to supplant the tree-like and lean-leafed nativegrowth; but there is too much wind and rain for the insects, and thepeople prefer to eat the figs or 'prickly pears.' Bananas grow well, anda large quantity is now exported for the English market. But the climatedoes not agree with European fruits and vegetables; strawberries andFrench beans are equally flavourless. I remarked the same in theglorious valley of the Lower Congo: it must result from some telluric oratmospheric condition which we cannot yet appreciate.

Tobacco has been tried with some success, though the results do notequal those of the Canaries; there, however, the atmosphere is too dry,here it is not. The _estanco_ (monopoly) and the chronic debt tothose who farm the import-tax long compelled the public to pay dear fora poor article. Home-growth was forbidden till late years; now it isencouraged, and rate-payers contribute a small additional sum. Hitherto,however, results have not been over-favourable, because, I believe, thetobacco-beds have been unhappily placed. Rich valley-soils andsea-slopes, as at Cuban Vuelta de Abajo and Syrian Latakia, are theproper habitats of the 'holy herb.' Here it is planted in the high drygrounds about the 'Peak Fort' and the uplands east of the city. Manurealso is rare and dear, and so is water, which, by the by, is sadlywasted in Madeira for want of reservoirs. Consequently the peasantssmoke tobacco from the Azores.

The Casa Funchalense, north of the Cathedral, is the chief depot forisland-growths. It sells 'Escuros' (dark brands) of 20 reis, or1_d_., and 50 reis, according to size. The 'Claros,' which seem tobe the same leaf steamed, fetch from 40 to 100 reis. A small half-ounceof very weak and poor-flavoured pipe-tobacco also is worth 1_d_.

An influential planter, Senhor Joao de Salles Caldeira, kindly sent toMr. John Blandy some specimens of his nicotiana for me to test inAfrica. The leaf-tobaccos, all grown between 1879 and 1881, at Magdalenain the parish of St. Antonio, were of three kinds. The Havano was fartoo short for the trade; the Bahiano, also dark, was longer; and theso-called 'North-American' was still longer, light-coloured and welltied in prick-shape. The negro verdict was, 'Left, a lilly he be foine,'meaning they want but little to be excellent. The Gold Coast prefersyellow Virginia, whose invoice price is 7_d_. per lb. The tradersare now introducing Kentucky, which, landed from Yankee ships, costs6_d_. But, here as elsewhere, it is difficult to bring about anysuch change.

There were two qualities of Madeiran _charutos_ (cigars): one longClaro which smoked very mild, and a short Escuro, which tasted a triflebitter. The blacks complained that they were too new; and I should rankthem with the average produce of Brazilian Bahia. A papered_cigarilha_, clad in an outer leaf of tobacco, was exceptionallygood. The _cigarros_ (cigarettes), neatly bound in bundles oftwenty-five, were of three kinds, _fortes_ (strong),_entre-fortes_, and _fracos_ (mild). All were excellent andfull of flavour; they did not sicken during the voyage, and I shouldrank them with the far-famed Braganca of the Brazil.

The most successful of these small speculations is that ofMr. E. Hollway. Assisted by an able gardener from Saint Michael, Azores,where the pineapple made a little fortune for Ponta Delgada, he hasconverted Mount Pleasant, his father's house and grounds on the Caminhodo Meio, into one huge pinery. The Madeiran sun does all the work ofEnglish fires and flues; but the glass must be whitewashed; otherwise,being badly made, with bubbles and flaws, it would burn holes in theplants. The best temperature for the hot-houses is about 90 deg. F.: it willrise after midday to 140 deg., and fall at night to 65 deg.. The speciespreferred are, in order of merit, the Cayena, the black Jamaica, and theBrazilian Abacaxi. The largest of Mr. Hollway's produce weighed 20lbs.--pumpkin size. Those of 12 lbs. and 15 lbs. are common, but themarket prefers 8 lbs. His highest price was 2_l_., and he easilyobtains from 10_s_. to 15_s_. In one greenhouse we saw 2,500plants potted and bedded; the total numbers more than double thatfigure. The proprietor has a steam-saw, makes his own boxes, and packshis pines with dry leaves of maize and plantain. He is also cultivatinga dwarf banana, too short to be wind-wrung. His ground will growanything: the wild asparagus, which in Istria rises knee-high, herebecomes a tall woody shrub.

And now of the wine which once delighted the world, and which has notyet become 'food for the antiquary.' To begin with, a few dates andfigures are necessary. In 1852, that terrible year for France, theOidium fungus attacked the vine, and soon reduced to 2,000 the normalyearly production of 20,000 and even 22,000 pipes.

[Footnote: Between 1792 and 1827 the yearly average was 20,000.In 1813 it was 22,000. " 1814 " 14,000. " 1816 " 15,000.

In 1816 it was 12,000. " 1818 " 18,000. " 1825 " 14,000.

It then decreased to an average of 7,000 till the oidium-year(Miss E. M, Taylor, p. 74).]

The finest growths suffered first, as animals of the highest bloodsuccumb the soonest to epidemics. When I wrote in 1863 the grape wasbeing replanted, chiefly the white _verdelho_, the Tuscan_verdea_. In 1873 the devastating Phylloxera appeared, and before1881 it had ruined two of the finest southern districts. The followingnumerals show the rapid decline of yield:--6,000 pipes in 1878, 5,000 in1879, 3,000 in 1880, and 2,000 in 1881. There are still in store some30,000 pipes, each=92 gallons (forty-five dozen); and a single firm,Messrs. Blandy Brothers, own 3,000. Mr. Charles R. Blandy, the late headof the house, bought up all the _must_ grown since 1863; but he didnot care to sell. This did much harm to the trade, by baulking thedemand and by teaching the public to do without it. His two survivingsons have worked hard and advertised on a large scale; they issue ayearly circular, and the result is improved enquiry. Till late years theworld was not aware that the Madeiran vine has again produced Madeirawine; and a Dutch admiral, amongst others, was surprised to hear thatall was not made at Cettes. I give below Messrs. Blandy's trade-prices,to which some 20 per cent, must be added for retail.

[Footnote: Sound light medium Madeiras from 26s. to 32s. per dozen,packed and delivered in London; light, golden, delicate, 36_s_.;tawny Tinta, also called 'Madeira Burgundy,' a red wine mixing well withwater, 40_s_.; fine old dry Verdelho, 48_s_.; rich soft oldBual, not unlike Amontillado, 54_s_.; very fine dry old Sercial(the Riesling grape), 56_s_.; and the same for highly-flavouredsoft old Malmsey, 'Malvasia Candida,' corrupted from 'Candia' becausesupposed to have been imported from that island in 1445. 'Grand Old Oamade Lobos' is worth 70_s_., and the best Old Preserve wine86_s_. For wines very old in bottle there are special quotations.]

The lowest price free on board is 23_l_, and the values rise from40_l_. at four years old to 1OO_l_. at ten years old.

'Madeira' was most popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,especially at the Court of Francois I. Shakespeare in 'Henry IV.' makesdrouthy Jack sell his soul on Good Friday for a cup of Madeira and acold capon's leg. Mr. H. Vizetelly, whose professional work should beread by all who would master the subject, marvels why and how this'magnificent wine' went out of fashion. The causes are many, all easy totrace. Men not yet very old remember the day when England had no _vinode pasto_ fit to be drunk at meals; when they found only ports,sherries, and loaded clarets; and when they sighed in vain for lightRhine or Bordeaux growths, good _ordinaire_ being to drink whatbread is to food.

[Footnote: This, however, is a mere individual opinion. I have latelyread a book recommending strong and well-brandied wines as preventingthe crave for pure alcohol.]

Now, however, the national taste has changed; the supply of Madeira notsufficing for the demand, the class called _boticarios_(apothecaries) brought rivals into the market; and extensive imitation'swith apples, loquats (Japanese medlars), and other frauds, brandied tomake the stuff keep, plastered or doctored with Paris-plaster to correctover-acidity, and coloured and sweetened with burnt sugar and withboiled 'must' (_mosto_) to mock the Madeira flavour, gave theisland-produce a bad name. Again, the revolution in the wine-trade of1860-61 brought with it certain Continental ideas. In France a glass ofMadeira follows soup, and in Austria it is drunk in liqueur-glasses likeTokay.

[Footnote: 'Madeira' is the island modification of the Cyprus and theCandia (?) grape. 'Tokay' comes from the Languedoc muscatel, and'Constantia' from Burgundy, like most of the Rhine-wines.]

The island wine must change once more to suit public taste. At presentit ships at the average strength of 18 deg.-25 deg. per cent, of 'proof spirit,'which consists of alcohol and water in equal proportions. For thatpurpose each pipe is dosed with a gallon or two of Porto Santo or SaoVicente brandy. This can do no harm; the addition is homogeneous andchemically combines with the grape-juice; but when potato-spirit andcane-rum are substituted for alcohol distilled from wine, the result isbad. The vintage is rarely ripened by time, whose unrivalled work isimperfectly done in the _estufa_ or flue-stove, the old fumarium,or in the _sertio_ (apotheca), an attic whose glass roofing admitsthe sun. The voyage to the East Indies was a clumsy contrivance for thesame purpose; and now the merchants are beginning to destroy the germsof fermentation not by mere heat, but by the strainer extensively usedin Jerez. The press shown to me was one of Messrs. Johnson and Co.,which passes the liquor through eighteen thick cottons supported by ironplates. It might be worth while to apply electricity in the form used todestroy fusel-oil. Lastly, the wine made for the market is a brand or ablend, not a 'vintage-wine.' At any of the _armazems_, or stores,you can taste the wines of '70, '75, '76, and so forth, of A 1 quality;and you can learn their place as well as their date of birth. But theseare mixed when wine of a particular kind is required and the producebecomes artificial. What is now wanted is a thin light wine, red orwhite, with the Madeira flavour, and this will be the drink of thefuture. The now-forgotten _tisane de Madere_ and the 'rain-waterMadeira,' made for the American markets, a soft, delicate, andstraw-coloured beverage, must be the models.

I sampled the new wines carefully; and, with due remembrance of thepeaches in 'Gil Blas,' I came to the conclusion that they are no longerwhat they were. The wine is tainted with sulphur in its odorous unionwith hydrogen. It is unduly saccharine, fermenting irregularly andinsufficiently. For years the plant has constantly been treated againstoidium with antiseptics, which destroy the spores and germ-growths; andwe can hardly expect a first-rate yield from a chronically-diseasedstock. Still the drink is rich and highly flavoured; and, under manycircumstances, it answers better than any kind of sherry. No moresatisfactory refreshment on a small scale than a biscuit and a glass ofBual. Moreover, the palate requires variety, and here finds it in aharmless form. But as a daily drink Madeira should be avoided: even inthe island I should prefer French Bordeaux, not English claret, with anoccasional change to Burgundy. Meanwhile, 'London particular' is a fact,and the supply will probably exceed the demand of the presentgeneration.

I also carefully sampled the wines of the north coast, which had not, asin Funchal, been subjected to doctoring by stove, by spirits, and byblend. They are lighter than the southern; but, if unbrandied, some soonturn sour, and others by keeping get strong and heady. The proportion ofalcoholism is peremptorily determined by climate--that is, thecomparative ratio of sun and rain. In Europe, for instance, light winescannot be produced without 'liquor,' as the trade calls _aquapura_, by latitudes lower than Germany and Southern France. When heatgreatly exceeds moisture, the wines may be mild to mouth and nose, yetthey are exceedingly potent; witness the _vino d'oro_ of theLibanus.

At Funchal I also tasted a very neat wine, a _vin de pays_ with theisland flavour and not old enough to become spirituous. If the vine beagain grown in these parts, its produce will be drunk in England undersome such form. But Madeira has at last found her 'manifest destiny:'she will be an orchard to Northern Europe and (like the England of thefuture) a kitchen-garden to the West African Coast, especially the GoldMines.

My sojourn at the Isle of Wood and its 'lotus-eating' (which meansdouble dinners) came to an end on Sunday, January 8, thes.s. _Senegal_ Captain W. L. Keene, bringing my long-expectedfriend Cameron, of African fame. The last day passed pleasantly enoughin introducing him to various admirers; and we ate at Santa Clara afinal dinner, perfectly conscious that we were not likely to see itslike for many a month. We were followed to the beach by a choice band ofwell-wishers--Baron Adelin de Vercour, Colonel H. W. Keays Young, andDr. Struthers--who determined upon accompanying us to Tenerife. Thenight was black as it well could be, and the white surf rattled theclicking pebbles, as we climbed into the shore-boat with broadcheek-pieces, and were pulled off shipwards. On board we foundMr. William Reid, junior, who had carefully lodged our numerousimpediments; and, at 10 P.M., we weighed for Tenerife.

I must not leave the Isle of Wood, which has so often given mehospitality, without expressing a hearty wish that the Portuguese'Government,' now rhyming with 'impediment,' will do its duty byher. The Canaries and their free ports, which are different from 'freetrade,' have set the best example; and they have made great progresswhile the Madeiras have stood still, or rather have retrograded. TheFunchal custom-house is a pest; the import charges are so excessive thatvisitors never import, and for landing a single parcel the ship must payhigh port-charges where no port exists. The population is heavily taxed,and would willingly 'pronounce' if it could only find a head. Theproduce, instead of being spent upon the island, is transmitted toLisbon: surely a portion of it might be diverted from bureaucraticpockets and converted into an emigration fund. It is sad to think that asingle stroke of the Ministerial pen would set all right and give newlife to the lovely island, and yet that the pen remains idle.

And a parting word of praise for Madeira. Whatever the traveller fromEurope may think of this quasi-tropical Tyrol, those homeward-bound fromAsia and Africa will pronounce her a Paradise. They will enjoy goodhotels, comfortable _tables d'hote_, and beef that does notresemble horseflesh or unsalted junk. Nor is there any better placewherein to rest and recruit after hard service in the tropics. Moreover,at the end of a month spent in perfect repose the visitor will lookforward with a manner of dismay to the plunge into excited civilisedlife.

But Madeira is not 'played out;' _au contraire_, she is one ofthose 'obligatory points' for commerce which cannot but prosper as theworld progresses. The increasing traffic of the West African coast willmake men resort to her for comforts and luxuries, for climate andrepose. And when the Gold Mines shall be worked as they should be thisisland may fairly look forward to catch many a drop of the goldenshower.

The following interesting table, given to me by M. d'Oliveira, clerk ofthe English Rooms, shows what movement is already the rule of Funchal.

When I left, in 1865, the western coast of the Dark Continent, itstransit and traffic were monopolised by the A(frican) S(team) S(hip)Company, a monthly line established in 1852, mainly by the lateMacgregor Laird. In 1869 Messieurs Elder, Dempster, and Co., of Glasgow,started the B(ritish) and A(frican) to divide the spoils. The juniornumbers nineteen keel, including two being built. It could easily 'eatup' the decrepit senior, which is now known as the A(frican)S(tarvation) S(teamers); but this process would produce seriouscompetition. Both lines sail from Liverpool on alternate Saturdays, andmake Funchal, with their normal unpunctuality, between Fridays andSundays. This is dreary slow compared with the four days' fast runningof the 'Union S. S. C.' and the comfortable 'Castle Line,' alias theCape steamers.

The B. and A. s.s. _Senegal_ is a fair specimen of the modern WestAfrican trader 'improved:' unfortunately the improvements affect theshareholders' pockets rather than the passengers' persons. Thesleeping-berths are better, but the roomy, well-lighted, comfortable oldsaloon, sadly shorn of its fair proportions, has become the upper storyof a store-room. The unfortunate stewards must catch fever by frequentdiving into the close and sultry mine of solids and fluids underfloor. There being no baggage-compartment, boxes and bags are stowedaway in the after part, unduly curtailing light and air; the sternlockers, once such pleasant sleeping-sofas, and their fixed tables areof no use to anything besides baskets and barrels. Here the surgeon,who, if anyone, should have a cabin by way of dispensary, must lodge hismedicine-chest. Amongst minor grievances the main cabin is washed everynight, breeding a manner of malaria. The ice intended for passengers iseither sold or preserved for those who ship most cargo. Per contra, thecook is good, the table is plentiful, the wines not over bad, thestewards civil, and the officers companionable.

Both lines, however, are distinctly traders. They bind themselves to notime; they are often a week late, and they touch wherever demand callsthem. The freight-charges are exorbitant, three pounds for fine goodsand a minimum of thirty-six shillings, when fifteen per ton wouldpay. The White Star Line, therefore, threatens _concurrence_. Letus also hope that when the Gold Mines prosper we shall have our specialsteamers, where the passenger will be more prized than the puncheon ofpalm-oil. But future rivals must have a care; they will encounter asomewhat unscrupulous opposition; and they had better ship Americancrews, at any rate not Liverpudlians.

The night and the next day were spent at sea in a truly deliciousclimate, which seemed to wax softer and serener as we advanced. Here themoon, whose hue is golden, not silvern, has a regular dawn beforerising, and an afterglow to her setting; and Venus casts a broad cestusof glimmering light upon the purple sea. Mount Atlas, alias the Pike ofTeyde, gradually upreared his giant statue, two and a half miles high:travellers speak of seeing him from Madeira, a distance of some 260(dir. geog.) miles; but this would be possible only were both termini15,000 feet in altitude. The limit of sight for terrestrial objectsunder the most favourable conditions does not exceed 210 miles. Yet hereit is not difficult to explain the impossible distances, 200 milesinstead of 120, at which, they say, the cone has been sighted: mirage orrefraction accounts for what the earth's convexity disallows.

We first see a low and regular wall of cloud-bank whose coping bearshere and there bulges of white, cottony cloud. Then a regular pyramid,at this season white as snow, shows its gnomon-like point, impaling thecumuli. Hour by hour the outlines grow clearer, till at last theterminal cone looks somewhat like a thimble upon a pillow--the_cumbre_, or lofty foundation of pumice-plains. But the aspecteverywhere varies according as you approach the island from north,south, east, or west.

The evening of January 9 showed us right abeam a splendid display of theZodiacal Light, whose pyramid suggested the glow of a hemisphere onfire. The triangle, slightly spherical, measured at its base 22 degreesto 24 degrees and rose to within 6" of Jupiter. The reflection in thewater was perfect and lit up with startling distinctness the wholeeastern horizon.

At 7 A.M. next morning, after running past the Anaga knuckle-bone--andvery bony it is--of the Tenerife _gigot_, we cast anchor in the Bayof Santa Cruz, took boat, and hurried ashore. In the early times of theA.S.S. halts at the several stations often lasted three days. Businessis now done in the same number of hours; and the captain informs youthat 'up goes the anchor' the moment his last bale or bag comes onboard. This trading economy of time, again, is an improvement moresatisfactory to the passenger than to the traveller and sightseer whomay wish to see the world.

Brusque was the contrast between the vivid verdure of Sylvania, the Isleof Wood, and the grim nudity of north-eastern Tenerife; brusquer stillthe stationary condition of the former compared with the signs, ofprogress everywhere evident in the latter. Spain, under the influence ofanticlerical laws and a spell of republicanism, has awoke from her sleepof ages, and we note the effects of her revival even in thesecolonies. A brand-new red fort has been added to La Ciudadela at thenorthern suburb, whence a mole is proposed to meet the southern branchand form a basin. Then comes the triangular city whose hypothenuse,fronting east, is on the sea; its chief fault is having been laid out ontoo small a scale. At the still-building pier, which projects some 500yards from the central mass of fort and _cuadras_ (insulae orhouse-blocks), I noticed a considerable growth of buildings, especiallythe Marineria and other offices connected with the free port. The oldpink 'castle' San Cristobal (Christopher), still cumbers the jetty-root;but the least sentimental can hardly expect the lieges to level sohistoric a building: it is the site of Alonso Fernandez de Lugo's firsttower, and where his disembarkation on May 3, 1493, gave its Christianname 'Holy Cross' to the Guanche 'Anasa.' Meanwhile the Rambleta deRavenal, dated 1861, a garden, formerly dusty, glary, and dreary as theold Florian of Malta, now bears lovers' seats, a goodly growth of planesand tamarinds, a statue, a fountain, and generally a gypsy-likefamily. By its side runs a tramway for transporting the huge blocks ofconcrete intended to prolong the pier. The inner town also shows a newpalace, a new hospital, and a host of improvements.

Landing at Santa Cruz, a long dull line of glaring masonry, smokelessand shadeless, was to me intensely saddening. A score of years hadcarried off all my friends. Kindly Mrs. Nugent, called 'the Admiral,'and her amiable daughter are in the English burial-ground; thehospitable Mr. Consul Grattan had also faded from the land of theliving. The French Consul, M. Berthelot, who published [Footnote:_Histoire naturelle des Iles Canaries_, par MM. P. Barker Webb etSabin Berthelot, ouvrage publie sous les auspices de M. Guizot, Ministrede l'Instruction Publique, Paris, 1839. Seven folio vols., with maps,plans, and sketches, all regardless of expense.] by favour of the lateMr. Webb, went to the many in 1880. One of the brothers Richardson haddied; the other had subsided into a clerk, and the Fonda Ingleza hadbecome the British Consulate. The new hotel kept by Senor Camacho andhis English wife appeared comfortable enough, but it had none of thoseassociations which make the old familiar inn a kind of home. _Enrevanche_, however, I met Mr. Consul Dundas, my successor at the portof Santos, whence so few have escaped with life; and his wife, thedaughter of an Anglo-Brazilian friend.

Between 1860 and 1865 I spent many a week in Tenerife, and here I amtempted to transcribe a few extracts from my voluminous notes uponvarious subjects, especially the Guanche population and the ascent ofthe Pike. A brief history of the unhappy Berber-speaking goatherds who,after being butchered to make sport for certain unoccupied gentlemen,have been raised by their assailants to kings and heroes rivalling thedemi-gods of Greece and Rome, and the melancholy destruction of therace, have been noticed in a previous volume. [Footnote: Yol. i. chap,ii., _Wanderings in West Africa_. The _modorra_, lethargy ormelancholia, which killed so many of those Numidian islanders suggeststhe pining of a wild bird prisoned in a cage.] I here confine myself tothe contents of my note-book upon the Guanche collections in the island.

One fine morning my wife and I set out in a venerable carriage for SanCristobal de la Laguna. The Camino de los Coches, a fine modern highwayin corkscrew fashion from Santa Cruz to Orotava, was begun, by the graceof General Ortega, who died smoking in the face of the firing party, andended between 1862 and 1868. This section, eight kilometres long,occupies at least one hour and a half, zigzagging some 2,000 feet up asteep slope which its predecessor uncompromisingly breasted. Here stoodthe villa of Peter Pindar (Dr. Walcott), who hymned the fleas ofTenerife: I would back those of Tiberias. The land is arid, beingexposed to the full force of the torrid northeast trade. Its principalproduce is the cactus (_coccinellifera_), a fantastic monster withfat oval leaves and apparently destitute of aught beyond thorns andprickles. Here and there a string of small and rather mangy camels, eachcarrying some 500 lbs., paced _par monts et par vaux_, and gave aBedawi touch to the scene: they were introduced from Africa by DeBethencourt, surnamed the Great. We remarked the barrenness of thebronze-coloured Banda del Sur, whose wealth is in cochineal and'dripstones,' or filters of porous lava. Here few save the hardiestplants can live, the spiny, gummy, and succulent cactus and thistles,aloes and figs. The arborescent tabayba (_Euphorbia canariensis_),locally called 'cardon,' is compared by some with the 'chandelier' ofthe Cape, bristling with wax tapers: the Guanches used it extensivelyfor narcotising fish. This 'milk plant,' with its acrid, viscid, andvirulent juice, and a small remedial shrub growing by its side, probablygave rise to the island fable of the twin fountains; one killed thetraveller by a kind of _risus Sardonicus_, unless he used the otherby way of cure. A scatter of crosses, which are impaled against everywall and which rise from every eminence; a ruined fort here and there; along zigzag for wheels, not over-macadamised, with an older short cutfor hoofs, and the Puente de Zurita over the Barranco Santo, an oldbridge made new, led to the _cuesta_, or crest, which looks downupon the Vega de la Laguna, the native Aguere.

The 'noble and ancient city' San Cristobal de la Laguna was founded onJune 26, 1495, St. Christopher's Day, by De Lugo, who lies buried in theSan Miguel side-chapel of La Concepcion de la Victorias. The site is anancient lava-current, the successor of a far older crater, originallysubmarine. The latest sub-aerial fire-stream, a broad band flowing fromnorth to south--we have ascended it by the coach-road--and garnishedwith small parasitic craters, affords a bed and basis to thecapital-port, Santa Cruz. After rains the lake reappears in mud andmire; and upon the lip where the town is built the north-east and thesouth-west winds contend for mastery, shedding abundant tears. Yet theold French chronicler says of the site, 'Je ne croy pas qu'il y eu aiten tout le monde aucune autre de plus plaisante.' The mean annualtemperature is 62 deg. 51' (F.), and the sensation is of cold: the altitudebeing 1,740 feet. Hence, like Orotava, it escaped the yellow fever whichin October 1862 had slain its 616 victims.

La Laguna offers an extensive study of medieval baronial houses, ofcolonial churches, of _ermitas_, or chapels, of altars, and ofconvents now deserted, but once swarming with Franciscans and Augustinesand Dominicans and Jesuits. These establishments must have been veryrich, for, here as elsewhere,

Dieu prodigue ses biens A ceux qui font voeu d'etre siens.

St. Augustine, with its short black belfry, shows a Christus Vinctus ofthe Seville school, and the institute or college in the ex-monasterycontains a library of valuable old books. The Concepcion boasts apicture of St. John which in 1648 sweated for forty days. [Footnote:Evidently a survival of the classic _aera sudantia_. Mrs. Murraynotices the 'miracle' at full length (ii. 76).] The black and whitecathedral, bristling with cannon-like gargoyles, a common architecturalfeature in these regions, still owns the fine pulpit of Carrara marblesent from Genoa in 1767. The _chef d'oeuvre_ then cost 200_l._;now it would be cheap at five times that price. In the sacristyare the usual rich vestments and other clerical curios. TheErmita de San Cristobal, built upon an historic site, is denoted asusual by a giant Charon bearing a small infant. There is a Carriera orCorso (High Street) mostly empty, also the great deserted Plaza delAdelantado, of the conqueror Lugo. The arms of the latter, with hislance and banner, are shown at the Ayuntamiento, or town-house; I do notadmire his commercial motto--

Quien lanza sabe tener, Ella le da de comer.

[Footnote: Whose lance can wield Daily bread 'twill yield.]

Conquering must not be named in the same breath as 'bread-winning.'There, too, is the scutheon of Tenerife, given to it in 1510; Michaelthe Archangel, a favourite with the invader, stands unroasted upon thefire-vomiting Nivarian peak, and this grand vision of the guarded mountgave rise to satiric lines by Vieira:--

[Footnote: Michael, archangel Michael, on this brow Throned thee King Ferdinand and Tenerife; To be of sulphur grough and frigid snow Administrator, guard, and reeve-in-chief.]

The deserted streets were long lines with an unclean centralgutter. Some of the stone houses were tall, grand, solid, and stately;such are the pavilion of the Counts of Salazar, the huge, heavy abode ofthe Marquesses de Nava, and the mansions of the Villanuevas delPardo. But yellow fever had driven away half of the population--10,000souls, who could easily be 20,000--and had barricaded the houses to thecurious stranger. Most of them, faced and porticoed with florid pillars,were mere dickies opening upon nothing, and only the huge armorialbearings showed that they had ever been owned. Mixed with these'palaces.' were 'cat-faced cottages' and pauper, mildewed tenements,whose rusty iron-work, tattered planks, and broken windows gave them atruly dreary and dismal appearance. The sole noticeable movement was atendency to gravitate in the roofs. The principal growth, favoured bythe vapour-laden air, was of grass in the thoroughfares, of moss on thewalls, and of the 'fat weed' upon the tiles. The horse-leek(_sempervivum urbium_), brought from Madeira, was first describedby the 'gifted Swede' Professor Smith, who died on the CongoRiver. Finally, though the streets are wide and regular, and the largetown is well aired by four squares, the whole aspect was stronglysuggestive of the _cocineros_ (cooks), as the citizens of thecapital are called by the sons of the capital-port. They retort byterming their rival brethren _chicharreros_, or fishers of the_chicharro_ (horse-mackerel, _Caranx Cuvieri_.)

From La Laguna we passed forward to Tacoronte, the 'Garden of theGuanches,' and inspected the little museum of the late D. SebastianCasilda, collected by his father, a merchant-captain de long_cours_. It was a chaos of curiosities ranging from China toPeru. Amongst them, however, were four entire mummies, including onefrom Grand Canary. Thus we can correct M. Berthelot, who follows othersin asserting that only the Guanches of Tenerife mummified theirdead. The oldest description of this embalming is by a 'judicious andingenious man who had lived twenty years in the island as a physitianand merchant.' It was inserted by Dr. Thomas Sprat in the 'Transactionsof the Royal Society,' London, and was republished in John Ogilby'senormous folio [Footnote: The 'physitian' was Dr. Eden, an Englishmanwho visited Tenerife in 1662.--Bohn's _Humboldtr_, i. 66] yclept'Africa.' The merchant 'set out from Guimar, a Town for the most partinhabited by such as derive themselves from the Antient_Guanchios_, in the company of some of them, to view their Cavesand the corps buried in them (a favour they seldom or never permit toany, having the Corps of their Ancestors in great veneration, andlikewise being extremely against any molestation of the Dead); but hehad done many Eleemosynary Cures amongst them, for they are very poor(yet the poorest think themselves too good to Marry with the best_Spaniard_), which endeared him to them exceedingly. Otherwise itis death for any Stranger to visit these Caves and Bodies. The Corps aresew'd up in Goatskins with Thongs of the same, with very greatcuriosity, particularly in the incomparable exactness and evenness ofthe Seams; and the skins are made close and fit to the Corps, which forthe most part are entire, the Eyes clos'd, Hair on their heads, Ears,Nose, Teeth, Lips, and Beards, all perfect, onely discolour'd and alittle shrivell'd. He saw about three or four hundred in several Caves,some of them standing, others lying upon Beds of Wood, so hardened by anart they had (which the Spaniards call _curay_, to cure a piece ofWood) that no iron can pierce or hurt it.[Footnote: The same writertells that they had earthen pots so hard that they could not bebroken. I have heard of similar articles amongst the barbarous raceseast of Dalmatia.] These Bodies are very light, as if made of straw; andin some broken Bodies he observ'd the Nerves and Tendons, and also theString of the Veins and Arteries very distinctly. By the relation of oneof the most antient of this island, they had a particular Tribe that hadthis art onely among themselves, and kept it as a thing sacred and notto be communicated to the Vulgar. These mixt not themselves with therest of the Inhabitants, nor marry'd out of their own Tribe, and werealso their Priests and Ministers of Religion. But when the_Spaniards_ conquer'd the place, most of them were destroy'd andthe art perisht with them, onely they held some Traditions yet of a fewIngredients that were us'd in this business; they took Butter (some saythey mixed Bear's-grease with it) which they kept for that purpose inthe Skins; wherein they boyl'd certain Herbs, first a kind of wildLavender, which grows there in great quantities upon the Rocks;secondly, an Herb call'd _Lara_, of a very gummy and glutinousconsistence, which now grows there under the tops of the Mountains;thirdly, a kind of _cyclamen_, or sow-bread; fourthly, wild Sage,which grows plentifully upon this island. These with others, bruised andboyl'd up into Butter, rendered it a perfect Balsom. This prepar'd, theyfirst unbowel the Corps (and in the poorer sort, to save Charges, tookout the Brain behind): after the Body was thus order'd, they had inreadiness a _lixivium_ made of the Bark of Pine-Trees, wherewiththey washt the Body, drying it in the Sun in Summer and in the Winter ina Stove, repeating this very often: Afterward they began their unctionboth without and within, drying it as before; this they continu'd tillthe Balsom had penetrated into the whole Habit, and the Muscle in allparts appear'd through the contracted Skin, and the Body becameexceeding light: then they sew'd them up in Goat-skins. The Antientssay, that they have above twenty Caves of their Kings and greatPersonages with their whole Families, yet unknown to any but themselves,and which they will never discover.' Lastly, the 'physitian' declaresthat 'bodies are found in the caves of the _Grand Canaries_, inSacks, quite consumed, and not as these in Teneriff.'

This assertion is somewhat doubtful; apparently the practice was commonto the archipelago. It at once suggests Egypt; and, possibly, at onetime, extended clean across the Dark Continent. So Dr. Barth [Footnote:_Travels_, &c., vol. iv. pp. 426-7.] tells us that when the chiefSonni Ali died in Grurma, 'his sons, who accompanied him on theexpedition, took out his entrails and filled his inside with honey, inorder that it might be preserved from putrefaction.' Many tribes inSouth America and New Zealand, as well as in Africa, preserved thecorpse or portions of it by baking, and similar rude devices. Accordingto some authorities, the Gruanche _menceys_ (kinglets or chiefs)were boxed, Egyptian fashion, in coffins; but few are found, because thesuperstitious Christian islanders destroy the contents of everycatacomb.

In the Casilda collection I observed the hard features, broad brows,square faces, and _flavos crines_ described by old writers. Twoshowed traces of tongue and eyes (which often were blue), proving thatthe softer and more perishable parts were not removed. There werespecimens of the dry and liquid balsam. Of the twenty-six skulls sixwere from Grand Canary. All were markedly of the type called Caucasian,and some belonged to exceptionally tall men. The shape wasdolichocephalic, with sides rather flat than rounded; the perceptiveregion was well developed, and the reflective, as usual amongst savagesand barbarians, was comparatively poor. The facial region appearedunusually large.

The industrial implements were coarse needles and fish-hooks ofsheep-bone. The domestic _supellex_ consisted of wooden ladlescoarsely cut, and of rude pottery, red and yellow, generally withouthandles, round-shaped and adorned with scratches. None of these_ganigos_, or crocks, were painted like those of Grand Canary. Theyused also small basaltic querns of two pieces to grind the _gofio_,[Footnote: The _gofio_ was composed of ripe barley, toasted,pounded, and kneaded to a kind of porridge in leathern bags like Turkishtobacco-pouches. The object was to save the teeth, of which the Guancheswere particularly careful.] or parched grain. The articles of dress weregrass-cloth, thick as matting, and _tamarcos_, or smock-frocks, ofpoorly tanned goatskins. They had also rough cords of palm-fibre, andthey seem to have preferred plaiting to weaving; yet New Zealand flaxand aloes grow abundantly. Their _mahones_ correspond with Indianmoccasins, and they made sugar-loaf caps of skins. The bases of shells,ground down to the thickness of a crown-piece, and showing spiraldepressions, were probably the _viongwa_, necklaces still worn inthe Lake Regions of Central Africa. The beads were of many kinds; somehorn cylinders bulging in the centre, and measuring 1.25 inch long;others of flattened clay like the American wampum or the ornaments ofthe Fernando Po tribes; and others flattened discs, also baked, almostidentical with those found upon African mummies--in Peru they were usedto record dates and events. A few were of reddish agate, a material notfound in the island; these resembled bits of thick pipe-stem, varyingfrom half an inch to an inch in length. Perhaps they were copies of themysterious Popo-bead found upon the Slave Coast and in inner Africa.

The Gruanches were doomed never to reach the age of metal. Theircivilisation corresponded with that of the Chinese in the days ofFo-hi. [Footnote: Abel Remusat tells us that of the two hundredprimitive Chinese 'hieroglyphs' none showed a knowledge of metal.] Thechief weapons were small triangles of close-grained basalt and_iztli_ (obsidian flakes) for _tabonas,_ or knives, both beingwithout handles. They carried rude clubs and _banot,_ or barbedspears of pine-wood with fire-charred points. The _garrotes_(pikes) had heads like two flattened semicircles, a shape preservedamongst negroes to the present day. Our old author tells us that thepeople would 'leap from rock to rock, sometimes making ten Fathoms deepat one Leap, in this manner: First they _tertiate_ their Lances,which are about the bigness of a Half-Pike, and aim with the Point atany piece of a Rock upon which they intend to light, sometimes not halfa Foot broad; in leaping off they clap their Feet close to the Lance,and so carry their bodies in the Air: the Point of the Lance comes firstto the place, which breaks the force of their fall; then they slidegently down by the Staff and pitch with their Feet on the very placethey first design'd; and so from Rock to Rock till they come to thebottom: but their Novices sometimes break their necks in the learning.'

I observed more civilisation in articles from the other islands,especially from the eastern, nearer the African continent. In 1834Fuerteventura yielded, from a depth of six feet, a dwarfish image of awoman with prominent bosom and dressed in the native way: it appearedalmost Chinese. A pot of black clay from Palmas showed superiorconstruction. Here, too, in 1762 a cavern produced a basalt plate, uponwhich are circular scrawls, which support the assertions of old writersas regards the islanders not being wholly ignorant of letters. I couldtrace no similarity to the peculiar Berber characters, and held them tobe mere ornamentation. The so-called 'Seals of the Kings' were darkstones, probably used for painting the skin; they bore parallelogramsenclosed within one another, diaper-work and gridirons of raisedlines. In fact, the Guanches of Tenerife were unalphabetic.

Hierro (Ferro), the Barranco de los Balos (Grand Canary), Fuerteventura,and other items of the Fortunates have produced some undoubtedinscriptions. They are compared by M. Berthelot with the signs engravedupon the cave-entrance of La Piedra Escrita in the Sierra Morena ofAndalusia; with those printed by General Faidherbe in his work on theNumidic or Lybian epigraphs; with the 'Thugga inscription,' Tunis; andwith the rock-gravings of the Sahara, attributed to the ancient Tawarikor Tifinegs. Dr. Gran-Bassas (El Museo Canario), who finds a notablelikeness between them and the 'Egyptian characters (cursive or demotic),Phenician and Hebrew,' notes that they are engraved in vertical series.Dr. Verneau, of the Academy, Paris, suggests that some of these epigraphsare alphabetic, while others are hieroglyphic. [Footnote: _El MuseoCanario_, No. 40, Oct. 22, 1881.] Colonel H. W. Keays-Young kindly copiedfor me, with great care, a painting in the Tacoronte museum. Itrepresents a couple of Guanche inscriptions, apparently hieroglyphic,found (1762) in the cave of Belmaco, Isle of Palma, by the ancients calledBenahoave. They are inscribed upon two basaltic stones.

[Illustration: THE NOMIDIO INSCRIPTIONS OF HIEBRO.]

[Illustration]

I also inspected the collection of a well-known lawyer, Dr. FranciscoMaria de Leon. Of the three Guanche skulls one was of African solidity,with the sutures almost obliterated: it was the model of a soldier'shead, thick and heavy. The mass of mummy-balsam had been tested, withoutother result than finding a large proportion of dragon's blood. In thefourteenth century Grand Canary sent to Europe at one venture twohundred doubloons' worth of this drug.

By the kindness of the Governor I was permitted to inspect four Guanchemummies, discovered (June 1862) in the jurisdiction of Candelaria.Awaiting exportation to Spain, they had been temporarilycoffined upon a damp ground-floor, where the cockroaches respectednothing, not even a Guanehe. I was accompanied by Dr. AngelM. Yzquierdo, of Cadiz, physician to the hospital, and we jotted down asfollows:--

No. 1, a male of moderate size, wanted the head and upper limbs, whilethe trunk was reduced to a skeleton. The characteristic signs wereCaucasian and not negro; nor was there any appearance of the Jewishrite. The lower right leg, foot, and toe-nails were well preserved; theleft was a mere bone, wanting tarsus and metatarsus. The stomach wasfull of dried fragments of herbs (_Ohenopodium_, &c.), and theepidermis was easily reduced to powder. In this case, as in the otherthree, the mortuary skins were coarsely sewn with the hair inside: it isa mistake to say that the work was 'like that of a glove.'

No. 2 was large-statured and complete; the framework and the form of thepelvis were masculine. The skin adhered to the cranium except behind,where the bone protruded, probably the effect of long resting upon theground. Near the right temporal was another break in the skin, whichhere appeared much decayed. All the teeth were present, but they werenot particularly white nor good. The left forearm and hand were wanting,and the right was imperfect; the lower limbs were well preserved even tothe toe-nails.

No. 3, also of large size, resembled No. 2; the upper limbs werecomplete, and the lower wanted only the toes of the left foot. The lowerjaw was absent, and the upper had no teeth. An oval depression, about aninch in its greater diameter, lay above the right orbit. If this be abullet-mark, the mummy may date from before the final conquest andsubmission in A.D. 1496. But it may also have resulted from someaccident, like a fall, or from the blow of a stone, a weapon which theGuanches used most skilfully. Mr. Sprat, confirmed by Glas, affirms thatthey 'throw Stones with a force almost as great as that of a Bullet, andnow use Stones in all their fights as they did antiently.'

No. 4, much smaller than the two former, was the best preserved. Theshape of the skull and pelvis suggested a female; the arms also werecrossed in front over the body, whereas in the male mummy they were laidstraight. The legs were covered with skin; the hands were remarkablywell preserved, and the nails were darker than other parts. The tongue,in all four, was absent, having probably decayed.

These crania were distinctly oval. The facial angle, well opened, andranging from 80 deg. to 85 deg., counterbalanced the great development of theface, which showed an animal type. A little hair remained, colouredruddy-chestnut and straight, not woolly. The entrails had disappeared,and the abdominal walls not existing, it was impossible to detect theincisions by which the tanno-balsamic substances, noted by Bory deSaint-Vincent and many others, were introduced. The method appearsuncertain. It is generally believed that after removing the entrailsthrough an irregular cut made with the _tabona_, or obsidian(knife), the operators, who, as in Egypt, were of the lowest caste,injected a corrosive fluid. They then filled the cavities with thebalsam described above; dried the corpse; and, after, fifteen to twentydays, sewed it up in tanned goatskins. Such appears to have been thecase with the mummies under consideration.

The catacombs, inviolable except to the sacrilegious, were numerous inthe rockiest and least accessible parts of the island. Mr. Addison foundthem in the Canadas del Pico, 7,700 feet above sea-level. [Footnote:Tenerife: 'An Ascent of the Peak and Sketch of the Island,' by RobertEdward Alison. _Quarterly Journal of Science_, Jan. 1806.] Hence ithas been remarked of the Guanches that, after a century of fighting,nothing remained of them but their mummies. The sharp saying is ratherterse than true.

The Guanches were barbarians, not savages. De Bethencourt's twochaplains, speaking in their chronicle of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura,tell us 'there are many villages and houses, with numerous inhabitants.'The ruins still found in the Isles are called 'casas hondas' ("deephouses"); because a central excavation was surrounded by a low wall. Thecastle of Zonzamas was built of large stones without lime. In PortArguineguin (Grand Canary) the explorers sent by Alfonso IV. (1341) cameupon 300 to 400 tenements roofed with valuable wood, and so clean insidethat they seemed stuccoed. They encircled a larger building, probablythe residence of the chief. But the Tenerifans used only caves.

The want of canoes and other navigating appliances in Guanche-land by nomeans proves that the emigration took place when the Canaries formedpart of the Continent. The same was the case with the Australians, theTasmanians, and the New Zealanders. The Guanches, at the same time, wereadmirable swimmers, easily able to cross the strait, nine miles wide,separating Lanzarote from La Graciosa. They could even kill fish withsticks when in the water. The fattening of girls before marriage was,and is still, a Moroccan, not an Arab custom. The rude feudalism muchresembled that of the Bedawi chiefs. George Glas, [Footnote: _TheHistory of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands_,&c. 4to. London, 1764. I have given some notices of the unfortunate'master mariner' in _Wanderings in West Africa_, vol. i. p. 79] orrather Abreu Galindo, his author, says of their marriages, 'None of theCanarians had more than one wife, and the wife one husband, contrary towhat misinformed authors affirm.' The general belief is that at the timeof the conquest polyandry prevailed amongst the tribes. It may haveoriginated from their rude community of goods, and probably it became alocal practice in order to limit population. Possibly, too, it wasconfined to the noble and the priestly orders.

Humboldt remarks, [Footnote: _Personal Narrative_, chap, i. p. 32,Bohn's ed. London, 1852.] 'We find no example of this polyandry exceptamongst the people of Thibet.' Yet he must have heard of the Nayr ofMalabar, if not of the Todas on the Nilagiri Hills. D. Agustin Millares[Footnote: _Historia de la Gran Canaria_. Published at Las Palmas.]explains the custom by 'men and women being born in almost equalproportions,' the reverse being the fact. Equal proportions induce themonogamic relation.

Learned M. d'Avezac derives 'Guanche' from Guansheri or Guanseri, aBerber tribe described by El-Idrisi and Leo Africanus. This is betterthan finding it in the Keltic _gwuwrn, gwen_, white. Olderauthorities hold it a corruption of 'Vinchune,' the indigenous name ofthe Nivarian race. Again, 'the inhabitants of Tenerife called themselvesGuan (the Berber Wan), one person, Chinet or Chinerf, Tenerife; so that_Guanchinet_ meant a man of Tenerife, and was easily corrupted toGuanche. Thus, too, Glas's 'Captain Artemis' was Guan-arteme, the one orchief ruler. Vieira derives 'Tenerf' or'Chenerf' from the last king; andold MSS. have 'Chenerife.' The popular voice says it is composed of'Tener,' mountain or snow, and of 'ryfe,' snow or mountain. Pritchard[Footnote: _Researches into the Physical History of Mankind_, bookiii. chap. ii.] applied the term Guanche to all the Canarian races, andhe is reproached for error by M. de Macedo, [Footnote: 'EthnologicalRemarks,' &c., by J. J. de Costa de Macedo, of Lisbon, _RoyalGeographical Society's Journal_, vol. ii. p. 172. _Wanderings inWest Africa_, i. 116, contains my objections to his theory.] whowould limit it to the Tenerifans. The same occurs in the Eev. Mr. Delany[Footnote: _Notes of a Residence in the Canary Islands_,&c. London, 1861.] and in Professor Piazzi Smyth, [Footnote: _AnAstronomer's Experiment_, p. 190. L. Reeve, London, 1868.] who speaksof the 'Guanches of Grand Canary and Teneriffe.' According to popularusage all were right, 'Guanche' being the local and general term for theaborigines of the whole archipelago. But the scientific object that itincludes under the same name several different races.

The language is also a point of dispute: some opine that all theislanders had one tongue, others that they were mutually unintelligible;many that it was Berber (Numidian, Getulian, and Garamantan), a few thatit was less distinctly Semitic. The two chaplains of De Bethencourt[Footnote: Bontier and Le Verrier, _Histoire de la premiere Decouvertee Conquete des Canaries_. Bergeron, Paris, 1630.] noted itsresemblance with that of the 'Moors' of Barbary. Glas, who knewsomething of Shilha, or Western Berber, made the same observation. Butthe Genoese pilot Niccoloso di Recco during the expedition of A.D. 1344collected the numerals, and two of these, _satti_ (7) and_tamatti_ (8), are less near the original than the Berberan_set_ and _tem_.

The catalogue of Abreu Galindo, who lived here in 1591 and printed hishistory in 1632, preserves 122 words; Vieira only 107, and Bory deSaint-Vincent [Footnote: _Essai sur les Iles fortunees_. Humboldthas only five.] 148. Webb and Berthelot give 909. Of these 200 arenouns, including 22 names of plants; 467 are placenames, and 242 areproper names. Many are questionable. For instance, _sabor_(council-place) is derived from _cabocer_, 'expression par laquelleles negres de la Senegambie denotent la reunion de leurs chefs.'[Footnote: Vol. i. part i. p. 223.] As all know, it is the corruptedPortuguese _caboceiro_, a headman.

Continuing our way from Tacoronte we reached Sauzal, beyond which thecoach did not then run; the old road was out of condition, and the newnot in working order. We offered a dollar each for carrying our lightgear to sturdy men who were loitering and lying about the premises. Theyshook their heads, wrapped their old blanket-cloaks around them, andstretched themselves in the sun like dogs after a cold walk. I couldhardly wonder. What wants have they? A covering for warmth, porridge forfood, and, above all, the bright sun and pure air, higher luxuries andbetter eudaemonics than purple and fine linen. At last some passingmuleteers relieved us of the difficulty.

The way was crowded with Laguneros, conspicuous in straw-hats; clothjackets, red waistcoats embroidered at the back; bright crimson sashes;white knickerbockers, with black velveteen overalls, looking as if'pointed' before and behind; brown hose or long leather gaitersornamented with colours, and untanned shoes. Despite the heat many worethe Guanche cloak, a blanket (English) with a running string round theneck. The women covered their graceful heads with a half-square of whitestuff, and deformed the coiffure by a hideous black billycock, anunpleasant memory of Wales. Some hundreds of men, women, and childrenwere working on the road, and we were surprised by the beauty of therace, its classical outlines, oval contours, straight profiles,magnificent hair, and blue-grey eyes with black lashes. This is not theresult of Guanche blood, as a town on the south-western part of theisland presently showed me. Also an orderly of Guanche breed from theparts about Arico, who had served for years at the palace, was pointedout as a type. He stood six feet four, with proportional breadth; hisface was somewhat lozenge-shaped, his hair straight, black like aHindu's, and his tawny skin looked only a little darker than that ofPortuguese Algarves. The beauty of the islanders results from a mixtureof Irish blood. During the Catholic persecution before 1823 many fledthe Emerald Isle to Tenerife, and especially to Orotava. The women'sfigures in youth are charming, tall, straight, and pliant as their ownpine-trees. All remark their graceful gait.

We passed through places famed in the days of the conquest--La Matanza,the native Orantapata, where De Lugo's force was nearly annihilated. Nowit is the half-way station to Orotava; and here the _coche_ stopsfor dinner, prices being regulated by Government. The single inn showsthe Pike, but not the subjacent valley. Then to Acentejo, the localRoncesvalles, where the invaders were saved only by St. Michael; andnext to La Vitoria, where they avenged themselves. At Santa Ursula wefirst saw the slopes of Orotava, the Guanche Tavro or Atanpalata; and onthe Cuesta de la Villa we were shown near its mark, a date-palm, thecave that sheltered the patriot chief, unfortunate Bencomo. As thefashionables came forth to walk and drive we passed the _calvario_and the _place_ leading to the Villa Orotava, and found quarters inthe _fonda_ of D. Jose Gobea. The _sala_, or chief room, some30 feet long, wanted only an Eastern divan round the walls; it waseasily converted into a tolerable place of bivouac, and here we resolvedto try country life for a while.

The first aspect of the Orotava Tempe was disappointing after Humboldt'sdictum, 'Voici ce qu'il y a de plus delicieux au monde.' But ourdisappointment was the natural reaction of judgment from fancy toreality, which often leads to a higher appreciation. At last we learnedwhy the Elysian [Footnote: In Arabic El-Lizzat, the Delight, or from theold Egyptian _Aahlu_,] Fields, the Fortunate Islands, the Garden ofthe Hesperides--where the sea is no longer navigable, and where Atlassupports the firmament on a mountain conical as a cylinder; the land ofevening, of sunset, where Helios sinks into the sea, and where Nightbore the guardians of the golden apples--were such favourites with thepoets. And we came to love every feature of the place, from the snowyPike of Teyde flushing pink in the morning sun behind his lofty rampart,to the Puerto, or lower town, whose three several reef-gates are outlaidby creamy surf, and whose every shift of form and hue stands distinct inthe transparent and perfumed air. The intermediate slopes are clothedwith a vegetation partly African, partly European; and here Humboldt, atthe end of the last century, proposed to naturalise the chinchona.

La Villa lies some two miles and a half from and about 1,140 feet abovethe Puerto; and the streets are paved and precipitous as any part ofFunchal. The population varied from 7,000 to 8,000 souls, whereas thelower town had only 3,500. It contains a few fine houses with hugehanging balconies and interior _patios_ (courts) which wouldaccommodate a regiment. They date from the 'gente muy caballerosa'(knightly folk) of three centuries ago. The feminine population appearedexcessive, the reason being that some five per cent. of the youths go toHavannah and after a few years return 'Indianos,' or 'Indios,' our old'nabobs.'

At the Puerto we were most kindly received by the late BritishVice-Consul, Mr. Goodall, who died about the normal age, seventy-seven:if this be safely passed man in Tenerife becomes a macrobian. All wasdone for our comfort by the late Mr. Carpenter, who figures in the'Astronomer's Experiment' as 'the interpreter.' Amongst the scantypublic diversions was the Opera. The Villa theatre occupied an ancientchurch: the length of the building formed pit, boxes, and gallery; and'La Sonnambula' descended exactly where the high altar had been. At thePuerto an old monastery was chosen for 'La Traviata:' the latter wasrealistic as Crabbe's poetry; even in bed the unfortunate 'Misled' onecould not do without a certain truncated cylinder of acajou. I sighedfor the Iberian 'Zarzuela,' that most charming _opera buffa_ whichtakes its name from a 'pleasaunce' in the Pardo Palace near Madrid.

The hotel diet was peculiarly Spanish; already the stews and 'pilaffs'(_pulaos_) of the East begin in embryo. The staple dish was the_puchero_, or _cocido_, which antiquated travellers still call'olla podrida' (pot-pourri). This _lesso_ or _bouilli_ consistsof soup, beef, bacon, and _garbanzos_ (chick-peas, or _Cicerarietinium_) in one plate, and boiled potatoes and small gourds(_bubangos_) in another. The condiments are mostly garlicand saffron, preferred to mustard and chillies. The pastry, they tellme, is excellent.

In those days the Great Dragon Tree had not yet lost its upper cone bythe dreadful storm of January 3, 1868; thus it had survived by twocenturies and a half the Garoe Laurel, or Arbol Santo, the miraculoustree of Hierro (Ferro). It stood in the garden of the Marquez de Sauzal,who would willingly have preserved it. But every traveller had his owninfallible recipe, and the proprietor contented himself with propping upthe lower limbs by poles. It stood upon a raised bank of masonry-work,and the north-east side showed a huge cavity which had been stopped withstone and lime. About half a century ago one-third came down, and in1819 an arm was torn off and sent, I believe, to Kew. When we saw thefragment it looked mostly like tinder, or touchwood, 'eld-gamall,'stone-old, as the Icelanders say. Near it stood a pair of tallcypresses, and at some distance a venerable palm-tree, which 'relates toit,' according to Count Gabriel de Belcastel,

[Footnote: I quote from the Spanish translation, _Las Islas Canarias yel Valle Orotava,_ a highly popular work contrasting wonderfully withsome of ours. The courteous Frenchman even promised that Morocco wouldbe the Algeria of the Canaries. His observations for temperature,pressure, variation, hygrometry, and psychrometry of the Orotavanclimate, which he chose for health, are valuable. He starts with atheory of the three conditions of salubrity--heat-and-cold, humidity,and atmospheric change. The average annual mean of Orotava is 66.34degrees (F.), that of Southern France in September; it never falls below54.5 degrees nor rises above 73.88 degrees, nor exceeds 13.88 degrees invariation.]

'in the murmurs of the breeze the legends of races long disappeared.'

Naturalists modestly assigned to the old Dragon 5,000 to 10,000 years,thus giving birth to fine reflections about its witnessing revolutionswhich our planet underwent prior to the advent of man. So Adamson madehis calabash a contemporary of the Noachian Deluge, if that partialcataclysm [Footnote: The ancient Egyptians, who ignored the BabylonianDeluge, well knew that all cataclysms are local, not general,catastrophes.] ever reached Africa. The Orotava relic certainly was anold tree, prophetic withal, [Footnote: It was supposed infallibly topredict weather and to regulate sowing-time. Thus if the southern sideflowered first drought was to be expected, and vice versa. Now thepeasant refers to San Isidro, patron of Orotava: he has only changed theform of his superstition.] when De Lugo and the _conquistadores_entered the valley in 1493 and said mass in its hollow. But that eventwas only four centuries ago, and dates are ticklish things when derivedfrom the rings and wrinkles of little-studied vegetation. AlreadyMr. Diston, in a letter to Professor Piazzi Smyth, [Footnote:'Astronomical Experiment on the Peak of Tenerife,' _Philosoph.Trans._, part ii. for 1858.] declared that a young 'dragon,'which he had planted in 1818, became in 38 years so tall thata ladder was required to reach the head. And let us observe that Nature,though forbidden such style of progression by her _savans_,sometimes does make a local _saltus_, especially in the change ofclimates. Centuries ago, when the fires about Teyde were still alight,and the lava-fields about Orotava were still burning, the rate ofdraconian increase, under the influence of heat and moisture, might havebeen treble or quadruple what it would now be.

[Footnote: The patriarch was no 'giant of the forest.' Its stature didnot exceed 60 feet. Humboldt made it only 45 French feet(= 47 ft. llins. English) round the base. Dr. Wilde (_Narrative_, p. 40) blamesthe measurer and gives about the same measurement, Professor PiazziSmyth, who in 1856 reproduced it in an abominable photo-stenograph,reckons 48.5 feet at the level of the southern foot, 35.6 feet at 6 feetabove the ground, and 28.8 feet at 14.5 feet, where branches spring fromthe rapidly narrowing conical trunk. The same are said to have been itsproportions in the days of the conquest. In 1866 Mr. Addison made it 60feet tall, 35.5 feet at 6 feet from the ground, and 49.5 incircumference at the base which he cleared. Mr. Barker Webb's sketch in1830 was the best; but the tree afterwards greatly changed.Mr. J. J. Williams made a neat drawing in boarding-schoolstyle, with a background apparently borrowed from Richmond Hill.]

The Jardin de Aclimatacion, or Botanical Garden, mentioned by Humboldt

[Footnote: Page 59. It is regretable that his forecasts havefailed. Neither of the ohinohonas (_C. tanoifolia_ and _C.oblongifolia_) has been naturalised in Southern Europe. Nor hasthe Hill of Duragno yet sent us the 'protea, the psidium, the jambos,the chirimoya of Peru, the sensitive plant, the heliconia, and severalbeautiful species of glyoine from New Holland.']

as far back as 1799, still flourishes. It was founded in 1788-95 by anable _savan_, the Marquis de Villanueva del Pardo (D. Alonso deNava y Grimon), who to a Government grant of 1,000_l_. added4,000_l_. of his own, besides 400_l_. a year for an averagegeneration. The place is well chosen, for the Happy Valley combines theflora of the north and the south, with a Nivaria of snow-land above itand a semi-tropical temperature on the shores of the 'Chronian Sea.'

CHAPTER VI.

THE ROUTINE ASCENT OF MOUNT ATLAS, THE 'PIKE' OF TENERIFE.

The trip was so far routine that we followed in the steps of allprevious travellers, and so far not routine that we made it in March,when, according to all, the Mal Pais is impassable, and when furiouswinds threaten to sweep away intruders like dry leaves.

[Footnote: The usual months are July and August. Captain Baudin, notfavourably mentioned by Humboldt, ascended in December 1797 with M. LeGros and the naturalists Advenier, Mauger, and Riedle. He rolled downfrom half-way on the cone to the bottom of La Rambleta, and was stoppedonly by a snow-covered lava-heap. Mr. Addison chose February, when he'suffered more from enormous radiation than from cold.' He justifies hischoice (p. 22) by observing that 'the seasons above are much earlierthan they are below, consequently the latter part of the spring is thebest season to visit the Peak.' In October, at an elevation of 10,700feet, he found the cold greater than it was in February. In July 1863 Irode round the island, to the Cumbre pumice-plains, and by no meansenjoyed the southern ride. A place near Guimar showed me thirty-six_barrancos_ (deep ravines) to be crossed within three leagues.]

The good folk of the Villa, indeed, declared that the Ingleza couldnever reach even the Estancia de los Inglezes.

Our train was modest--a pair of nags with their attendants, and twoexcellent sumpter-mules carrying provisions and blankets. The guide wasManoel Reyes, who has already appeared in the 'Specialities of aResidence Above the Clouds.' He is a small, wizen-faced man, quiet,self-contained, and fond--exceedingly fond--of having his own way. Bydint of hard work we left the Fonda Gobea at 9 A.M. on March 23, withloud cries of 'Mulo!' and 'Anda, caballo!' and 'So-o-o!' when thebat-beasts indulged in a free fight.

Morning smiled upon our incept. Nothing could be lovelier than theweather as we crossed the deluging Martinianez Fiumara; struck thecoast-road westward, and then, bending to the south-west, made for the'Gate of Taoro,' a gap in the Canada-wall. From the higher level trulycharming was the aspect of Orotava: it was Funchal many timesimproved. Beyond the terraced foreground of rich deep yellow clay,growing potatoes, wheat, and the favourite _chochos_ (lupines),with apple and chestnut trees, the latter of two kinds, and the lowerfields marked out by huge agaves, lay the Happy Valley. Its contrast ofvivid greens, of white _quintas_, of the two extinct volcanosoverlooking Orotava, and of the picturesque townlets facing the mistyblue sea, fringed with a ceaseless silvery surf by the _brisa_, ornorth-east trade, the lord of these latitudes, had not a symptom of theMadeiran monotony of verdure. Behind us towered high the snowy Pilon(Sugar-loaf), whose every wave and fold were picked out by goldensunlight, azure half-light, and purple shade.

As we advanced up the Camino de Chasna, a road only by name, the_quintas_ were succeeded by brown-thatched huts, single or inclumps. On the left, 3,400 feet above sea-level, stood the Pino delDornajito ('of the Little Trough'), one of the few survivors in thisonce wealthy pine-ground. The magnificent old tree, which was full grownin the days of the conquest, and which in the seventeenth century was afavourite halting-point, suffered severely from the waterspout ofNovember 7, 1826; but still measured 130 feet long by 29 in girth. Thevegetation now changed. We began brushing through the arbutus(_callicarpa_), the wild olive (_Olea excelsa_), the Canarianoak, the daphne, the myrtle entwined with indigenous ivy (_Hederacanariensis_); the cytisus, the bright green hypericum of threespecies, thyme, gallworts, and arborescent and other ferns in numbers,especially the hare's-foot and the peculiar _Asplenium canariense_,the _Trichomanes canariensis_, and the _Davallia canariensis_;the _brezo_ (_Erica aborea_ and _E. scoparia_), a heathwhose small white bells scented the air; and the luxuriant blackberry,used to fortify the drystone walls. The dew-cloud now began to floatupwards from the sea in scarf-shape, only a few hundred feet thick; ithad hangings and fringes where it was caught by the rugged hill-flanks;and above us globular masses, white as cotton bales, rolled over oneanother. As in the drier regions of Africa the hardly risen sun madeitself felt.

At 10.20 A.M. we had passed out of the cultivated region to the Montijo,or Monte Verde, the laurel-region. The 'wood' is the remains of a fineforest accidentally fired by charcoal-burners; it is now a copse ofarborescent heath-worts, ilex (_I. Perado_), and _Faya_(_Myrica Faya_), called the 'Portugal laurel,' some growing tenfeet high. We then entered upon rough ground, El Juradillo ('theHollow'); this small edition of the Mal Pais, leading to the Canadas, isa mass of lava-beds and dry _barrancos_ (ravines) grooved andsheeted by rushing torrents. The latter show the anatomy of theland--tufas, lavas, conglomerates, trachytes, trachydolerites, andbasalts of various kinds. Most of the rocks are highly magnetic, and areseparated by thin layers of humus with carbonised plant-roots. AroundEl Juradillo rises a scatter of _montanetas_, shaped likehalf-buried eggs: originally parasitic cones, they evidently connectwith the main vent. About 1 P.M., after four hours' ride, we dismountedat the Estancia de la Sierra (6,500 feet); it is a pumice-floor a fewfeet broad, dotted with bush and almost surrounded by rocks that keepoff a wind now blowing cold and keen. Consequently, as broken pots andbottles show, it is a favourite resting-place.

After halting an hour we rode up a slope whose obtuser talus showed thatwe were reaching the far-famed platform, called Las Canadas delPico. The word, here meaning level ground, not, as usual, a canefield,applies especially to the narrow outer rim of the hollow plain; abristling fortification of bluffs, pointing inwards, and often tilted toquoins 300 feet high, with an extreme of 1,000. Trachyte and basalt,with dykes like Cyclopean walls, are cut to jagged needles by thefurious north-easter. Around the foot, where it is not encumbered with_debris_ like the base of an iceberg, a broad line of comminutedpumice produces vegetation like a wady-growth in Somali Land. Thecentral bed allows no short cut across: it is a series of rubbish-heaps,parasitic cones, walls, and lumps of red-black lavas, trachytes, andphonolites reposing upon a deluge of frozen volcanic froth ejected byearly eruptions. The aspect was rejoicing as the Arabian desert: I wouldwillingly have spent six months in the purest of pure air.

These flats of pumice, 'stones of emptiness,' loose incoherent matter,are the site of the first great crater. Tenerife is the type of athree-storied volcano, as Stromboli is of one and Vesuvius of twostages. The enormous diameter of this ancient feature is eight by sevenmiles, with a circumference of twenty-three--greater even thanHawaii--and here one feels that our earth was once a far sublimerscene. Such forms belong to the earlier volcanic world, and astronomersstill suspect them in the moon. [Footnote: Las Canadas was shown to be avolcanic crater in 1803 by Professor Cordier, the first scientificvisitor in modern days (_Lettre a Devilliers fils_), and in 1810 byD. Francisco Escobar (_Estadistica_). They make the old vent tenleagues round.] The altitude is 6,900 feet, nearly double the height ofVesuvius (3,890 feet); and the lines sweep upwards towards the Pilon,where they reach 8,950 feet.

The tints of Las Canadas, seen from above, are the tenderest yellow anda brownish red, like the lightest coat of vegetation turning ruddy inthe sun. Where level, Las Canadas is a floor of rapilli andpumice-fragments, none larger than a walnut, but growing bigger as theyapproach the Pike. The colours are dun (_barriga de monja_),golden-yellow, and brown burnt red like autumnal leaves. There ismarvellous colouring upon the bluffs and ridges of the rim--lamp-blackand brown-black, purple (light and dark), vermilion-red, and sombre huessuperficially stained ruddy by air-oxygen. The picture is made brighterby the leek-green vegetation and by the overarching vault of glaringblue. Nor are the forms less note-worthy. Long centuries of weatheringhave worked the material into strange shapes--here a ruined wall, therean old man with a Jesuit's cap; now a bear, then a giant python. It isthe oldest lava we have yet seen, except the bed of the Orotavavalley. The submarine origin is denoted by fossils found in the flank;they are of Miocene age, like those common in Madeira, and they wereknown as early as the days of Clavijo (1772).

Las Canadas is not wholly a 'dead creation;' the birds were morenumerous than on the plains. A powerful raptor, apparently an eagle withblack-barred wings, hung high in air amongst the swallows winging theirway northwards, and the Madeiran sparrow-hawk was never out of sight;ravens, unscared by stone-throwing boys, flew over us unconcernedly,while the bushes sheltered many blackbirds, the Canary-bird(_Fringilla canaria_) showed its green belly and grey back andwings, singing a note unknown to us; and an indigenous linnet(_F. teydensis_), small and green-robed, hopped over the groundtame as a wren. We saw nothing of the red-legged partridge or theTetraonidae, reported to be common.

The scattered growths were composed of the broomy _Codeso_ and_Retama_. The former (_Adenocarpus frankenoides_), a leguminousplant, showed only dense light-green leaves without flower,and consequently without their heavy, cloying perfume. The woody stemacts in these regions as the _doornboom_ of South Africa, the wildsage of the western prairies, and the _shih_ (_absinthium_) ofthe Arabian desert. The Arabic _Retama_, or Alpine broom(_Cytisus fragrans_, Lam.; _Cyt. nubigenus_, Decan.; _Spartiumnubigenum_, Alton and Von Buch), is said to be peculiarto Tenerife, where it is not found under one vertical mile ofheight. Some travellers divide it into two species, _Spartiummonospermum_ and _S. nubigenum_. The bush, 9 to 10 feet tall by 7 to15 inches diameter, is easily distinguished from the _Codeso_ byits denser and deeper green. This pretty rounded growth, with its shortbrown stem throwing out lateral branches which trail on the ground,flavours meat, and might be naturalised in Europe. From June till Augustit is covered with a profusion of white blossoms, making Las Canadas aHymettus, an apiarian heaven. It extends as far as the second cone, butthere it shrinks to a foot in height. We did not see the tree growing,but we met a party of Chasna men, [Footnote: A romantic tale is told ofthe origin of Chasna. In 1496, before the wars ended, one Pedro deBracamonte, a captain under De Lugo, captured a 'belle sauvage,' whomade her escape after a few days. He went about continually repeating,'Vi la flor del valle' (I saw the valley flower), and died after threemonths. His soldiers buried him and priests said masses for the soul ofthis 'hot amorist.'] driving asses like onagers, laden with the gummywood of the _Tea_ or _Tiya_ pine (_P. canariensis_). Thevaluable material, which resists damp and decay for centuries, and whichDecandolle declares would grow in Scotland, is rapidly disappearing fromthe Pinals. The travellers carried cochineal-seed, for which theirvillage is famous, and a hive which might have been Abyssinian. It was ahollow cylinder of palm-bole, closed with board at either end; in Julyand August it is carried up the mountain, where the bees cannot destroythe grapes. We searched in vain for M. Broussonet's white violet(_V. teydensis_), [Footnote: Humboldt's five zones of vegetation onthe Pike are vines, laurels, pines, broom, and grasses (p. 116).Mr. Addison modifies this scale to vines, laurels, pines andjunipers, mountain-brooms and pumice-plains, I should distribute theheights as growing cochineal, potatoes, and cereals, chestnuts, pines,heaths, grasses, and bare rock.] and for the lilac-coloured _Violacheiranthifolia_, akin to _V. decumbens_.

The average annual temperature of Las Canadas is that of N. latitude 53degrees, Holland and Hanover; in fact, here it is the Pyrenees, andbelow it Africa. The sun blazed from a desert of blue, and the wavingheat-reek rose trembling and quivering from the tawny sides of theforegrounds. The clouds, whose volumes were disposed like the leaves ofa camellia, lay far down to the north-east, as if unable to face thefires of day. And now the great trachytic dome, towering in thetranslucent air, was the marking feature. Its angle, 35 to 42 degrees,or double that of the lower levels, suggests distant doubts as to itspracticability, nor could we believe that it rises 3,243 feet above itswestern base, Las Canadas. The summit, not including the terminalPilon--a comparatively dwarf cone [Footnote: There is a very bad sketchof the Pike in Mr. Scrope's popular work on _Volcanoes_ (p. 5); theeruptive chimney is far too regularly conical.]--is ribboned withclinker, and streaked at this season with snow-lines radiating, likewheel-spokes from a common centre. Here and there hang, at an impossibleangle, black lava-streams which were powerless to reach the plain: theyresembled nothing so much as the gutterings of a candle hardening on theoutside of its upright shaft. Evidently they had flowed down the slopein a half fluid state, and had been broken by contraction whencooling. In places, too, the surface was streaked with light yellowpatches, probably of sun-gilt _tosa_ or pumice.

On our right, or to the north-north-east of the Pike, rose La Fortaleza,_alias_ the Golliada del Cedro. The abrupt wall had salient andre-entering angles, not unlike the Palisades of the Hudson River, withintercalated strata and a smooth glacis at the base, except between theeast and north-west, where the periphery has been destroyed. It isapparently basalt, as we may expect in the lower levels before reachingthe trachytic region. The other notable features were Monte Tigayga,with its vertical cliff, trending northwards to the sea; the gap throughwhich the Orotava lava-bed burst the crater-margin; the Llano de Maja('Manja' in Berthelot), a strip of Las Canadas, and the horizontallystriated Peak of Guajara (8,903 feet).

Riding over the 'pumice-beach of a once fiery sea,' whose glare andother accidents suggested the desert between Cairo and Suez, we made ourway towards the Rastrojito. This 'Little Stubble' is a rounded heap ofpumice, a southern offset of the main mountain. On the left rose theMontana Negra (Black Mountain) and the Lomo de la Nieve ('Snow Ridge),'a dark mass of ribbed and broken lavas (8,970 feet), in whichsummer-snow is stored. A little black kid, half wild, was skipping overthe rocks. Our men pursued it with the _garrotes_ (alpenstocks),loudly shouting,' Tio Jose!': 'Uncle Joseph,' however, escaped, runninglike a Guanche. Here it is allowed to shoot the animals on condition ofleaving a shilling with the skin. The latter is used in preparing thenational _gofio,_ the Guanche _ahoren,_ the _kuskusu_ ofnorth-western Africa, the _polenta,_ or daily bread, of theNeo-Latins.

Climbing the Rastrojito slopes, we sighted the Pedras Negras: these arehuge travelled rocks of basalt, jet-black, breaking with a conchoidalfracture, and showing debris like onion-coats about their base. Theaspect was fantastic, resembling nothing so much as skulls 10 to 15 feethigh. They are doubtless the produce of the upper slopes, which by slowdegrees gravitated to the present pumice-beds.

The first step of the Pike is Las Canadas, whose glacis forms the_Cumbre_, or pumice-plains (6,500 feet), the long dorsum, whichshows far out at sea. Bending abruptly to the east, we began to breastthe red pumice-bed leading to the Estancia de Abajo or de losInglezes. 'El es Inglez porque subio al Pico' ('he is English, becausehe climbed the Pike'), say the people. This ramp, whose extreme angle is26 degrees, bordered by thick bands of detached lava-rocks, is doubtlessthe foundation-matter of the Pike. Hence the latter is picturesquelytermed 'Hijo de las Canadas.' [Footnote: Especially by D. BenignoCarballo Wanguement in his work, _Las Afortunadas_ (Madrid, 1862),a happy title borrowed from D. Francisco Escobar. Heyley(_Cosmography_), quoted by Glas and Mrs. Murray, tells us of anEnglish ambassador who, deeming his own land the 'Fortunate Islands,'protested against Pope Clement VI. so entitling the Canaries in a deedof gift to D. Luis de la Cerda, the 'Disinherited' Conde deClaramonte. The latter was deprived of the Crown of Castile by hisuncle, Sancho IV., and became the founder of the Medina Celi house.]

After a total climb and ride of six hours, we reached the 'Englishstation.' M. Eden (Aug. 13, 1715) [Footnote: Trans. Royal Soc. ofLondon, 1714-16.] calls it simply Stancha, and M. Borda 'Station desRochers.' Pere Feutree, a Frenchman who ascended in 1524, and wrote theearliest scientific account, had baptised it Station de St. Francois dePaul, and set up a cross. It is a shelf in the pumice-slope, 9,930 feethigh, and protected against the cold night-winds of thenorth-north-east, the lower or polar current, by huge boulders ofobsidian, like gigantic sodawater-bottles. The routine traveller sleepsupon this level a few hundred yards square, because the guides storetheir fuel in an adjacent bed of black rocks. Humboldt miscalls thestation 'a kind of cavern;' and a little above it he nearly fell on theslippery surface of the 'compact short-swarded turf' which he had left4,000 feet below him.

The bat-mules were unpacked and fed; and a rough bed was made up underthe lea of the tallest rock, where a small _curral_ of dry stonekept off the snow. This, as we noticed in Madeira, is not in flakes, norin hail-like globes: it consists of angular frozen lumps, and theselvage becomes the hardest ice. Some have compared it with the Swiss'firn,' snow stripped of fine crystals and granulated by time andexposure. In March the greatest depth we saw in the gullies radiatingfrom the mountain-top was about three feet. But in the cold season allmust be white as a bride-cake; and fatal accidents occur in the Canadadrifts. Professor Piazzi Smyth characterises the elevated region as coldenough at night, and stormy beyond measure in winter, when thesouth-wester, or equatorial upper current, produces a fearfulclimate. Yet the Pike summit lies some 300 feet below the snow-line(12,500 feet).

The view was remarkable: we were in sight of eighty craters. At sunsetthe haze cleared away from the horizon, which showed a straightgrey-blue line against a blushing sky of orange, carmine, pale pink, andtender lilac, passing through faint green into the deep dark blue of thezenith. In this _cumbre_, or upper region, the stars did notsurprise us by their brightness. At 6 P.M. the thermometer showed 32degrees F.; the air was delightfully still and pure, [Footnote: We hadno opportunity of noticing what Mr. Addison remarks, the air becomingsonorous and the sound of the sea changing from grave to acute aftersunset and during the night. He attributes this increased intensity toadditional moisture and an equability of temperature in the atmosphericstrata. Perhaps the silence of night may tend to exaggerate theimpression.] and Death mummifies, but does not decay.

A bright fire secured us against the piercing dry night-cold; and the_arrieros_ began to sing like _capirotes_ [Footnote: The_Capirote_ or _Tinto Negro_, a grey bird with black head(_Sylvia atricapilla_), is also found in Madeira, and muchresembles the Eastern bulbul or Persian nightingale. It must be cagedwhen young, otherwise it refuses to sing, and fed upon potatos and breadwith milk, not grain. An enthusiast, following Humboldt (p. 87),describes the 'joyous and melodious notes' of the bird as 'the purestincense that can ascend to heaven.'] (bulbuls), sundry _seguidillas_,and _El Tajaraste_. The music may be heard everywhere between Moroccoand Sind. It starts with the highest possible falsetto and graduallyfalls like a wail, all in the minor _clef_.

We rose next morning with nipped feet and hands, which a cup of hotcoffee, 'with,' speedily corrected, and were _en route_ at 4.30A.M. Formerly animals were left at the lower _estancia_; now theyare readily taken on to Alta Vista. My wife rode a sure-footed blacknag, I a mule which was perfect whilst the foot-long lever acting curblay loose on its neck. Returning, we were amazed at the places they hadpassed during the moonless night.

Our path skirted the Estancia de los Alemanos, about 300 yards higherthan the English, and zig-zagged sharply up the pumice-slope. The talusnow narrowed; the side-walls of dark trachytic blocks pinching it in. Atthis grisly hour they showed the quaintest figures--towers andpinnacles, needles and tree-trunks, veiled nuns and monstrousbeasts. Amongst them were huge bombs of obsidian, and masses withtranslucent, vitreous edges that cut like glass. Most of them containedcrystals of felspar and pyroxene.

After half an hour we reached the dwarf platform of Alta Vista, 700 feetabove the Estancia and 10,730, in round numbers, above sea-level. Thelittle shelf, measuring about 100 to 300 yards, at the head of the forkwhere the north-eastern and the south-western lava-streams part, isdivided by a medial ledge. Here we saw the parent rock of the pumicefragments, an outcrop of yellowish brown stone, like fractured andhardened clay. The four-footed animals were sent back: one rides up butnot down such places.

Passing in the lower section the shell of a house where the Astronomer's

[Footnote: The author came out in 1856 to make experiments inastronomical observations. Scientific men have usually a contempt forlanguage: we find the same in _Our Inheritanse_, &c. (Dalby & Co.,London, 1877), where the poor modern hierogrammats are not highlyappreciated. But it is a serious blemish to find 'Montana Blanco,''Malpays,' 'Chahzorra' (for Chajorra), and 'Tiro del Guanches.' Theauthor also is wholly in error about Guanche mummification. He derides(p. 329) the shivering and shaking of his Canarian guide under a cloudysky of 40 deg.F., when the sailor enjoyed it in their 'glorious strength ofSaxon (?) constitution.' But when the latter were oppressed anddiscouraged by dry heat and vivid radiation, Manoel was active as achamois. Why should enduring cold and not heat be held as a test ofmanliness?]

experiment had been tried, Guide Manoel pointed out the place wherestood the _tormentos_, as he called the instruments. Thence wetoiled afoot up the Mal Pais. This 'bad country' is contradictorilydescribed by travellers. Glas (A.D. 1761) makes it a sheet of rockcracked cross-wise into cubes. Humboldt (1799) says, 'The lava, brokeninto sharp pieces, leaves hollows in which we risked falling up to ourwaists.' Von Buch (1815) mentions 'the sharp edges of glassy obsidian,as dangerous as the blades of knives.' Wilde (1857) tamely paints thescene as a 'magnified rough-cast.' Prof. Piazzi Smyth is, as usual,exact, but he suggests more difficulty than the traveller finds. I sawnothing beyond a succession of ridge-backs and shrinkage-crevasses,disposed upon an acute angle. These ragged, angular, and mostly cuboidalblocks, resembling the ice-pack of St. Lawrence River, have apparentlybeen borne down by subsequent lava-currents, which, however, lackedimpetus to reach the lower levels of Las Canadas.

Springing from boulder to boulder, an exhilarating exercise for a time,over a 'surface of horrible roughness,' as Prof. Dana says of Hawaii, wehalted to examine the Cueva de Hielo, whose cross has long succumbed tothe wintry winds. The 'ice-house' in a region of fire occupies a littleplatform like the ruined base of a Pompey's Pillar. This is the tableupon which the _neveros_ pack their stores of snow. The cave, amere hole in the trachytic lava, opens to the east with an entrance somefour feet wide. The general appearance was that of a large bubble in abaked loaf. Inside we saw a low ceiling spiky with stalactites, possiblyicicles, and a coating of greenish ice upon the floor. A gutter leadsfrom the mouth, showing signs of water-wear, and the blocks of trachyteare so loaded with glossy white felspar that I attempted to dust thembefore sitting down.

Local tradition connects this ice-cave with the famous burial-cavernnear Ycod, on the northern coast; this would give a tunnel 8 miles longand 11,040 feet high. Many declare that the meltings ebb and flow withthe sea-tide, and others recount that lead and lines of many fathomsfailed to touch bottom. We are told about the normal dog which fell inand found its way to the shore through the cave of Ycod de los Vinos. Inthe latter a M. Auber spent four hours without making much way; in partshe came upon scatters of Guanche bones. Mr. Robert Edwards, of SantaCruz, recounted another native tradition--that before the eruption ofA.D. 1705 there was a run of water but no cave. Mr. Addison was let downinto it, and found three branches or lanes, the longest measuring 60-70feet. What the _neveros_ call _el hombre de nieve_ (thesnow-man) proved to be a honeycombed mass of lava revetted withice-drippings. He judged the cave to be a crater of emission; and didnot see the smoke or steam issuing from it as reported by theice-collectors.

Professor P. Smyth goes, I think, a little too far in making thiscontemptible feature compose such a quarrel as that between the Englisheruptionist and the Continental upheavalist. Deciding a disputed point,that elevation is a force and a method in nature, he explains the caveby the explosion of gases, which blew off the surface of the dome, 'whenthe heavy sections of the lava-roof, unsupported from below, felldownward again, wedging into and against each other, so as nearly toreform their previous figure.' But the unshattered state of the stonesand the rounded surfaces of the sides show no sign of explosion. Theupper _Piton_ is unfitted for retaining water, which must percolatethrough its cinders, pumices, and loose matter into many a reservoirformed by blowing-holes. Snow must also be drifted in and retain, thecold. Moisture would be kept in the cavern by the low conducting powerof its walls; so Lyell found, on Etna, a bed of solid ice under alava-current. Possibly also this cave has a frozen substratum, like manyof the ice-pools in North America.

We then toiled up to another little _estancia_, a sheltered,rock-girt hollow. The floor of snow, or rather frozen rain, wassprinkled with red dust, and fronts the wind, with sharp icy pointsrising at an angle of 45 deg.. Here, despite the penetrating cold, wegravely seated ourselves to enjoy at ease the hardly won pleasures ofthe sunrise. The pallid white gleam of dawn had grown redder, brighterand richer. An orange flush, the first breaking of the beams faintlyreflected from above, made the sky, before a deep and velvetyblack-blue, look like a gilt canopy based upon a rim of azure mist. Thebrilliancy waxed golden and more golden still; the blending of thecolours became indescribably beautiful; and, lastly, the sun's upperlimb rose in brightest saffron above the dimmed and spurious horizon ofnorth-east cloud. The panorama below us emerged dimly and darkly from atorrent of haze, whose waving convex lines, moving with a majestic calm,wore the aspect of a deluge whelming the visible world. Martin the Greatmight have borrowed an idea from this waste of waters, as it seemed tobe, heaving and breaking, surging and sweeping over the highestmountain-tops. We saw nothing of the immense triangular gnomon projectedby the Pilon as far as Gomera Island, [Footnote: At sunset of July 10,1863, I could trace it extending to Grand Canary, darkening the southern